Spoštovani akademiki,

ker menimo, da niste dobro seznanjeni z razmerami v Sloveniji, notranjepolitičnimi boji in medijskimi manipulacijami, ni vaša krivda, da so vas temeljito zavedli slovenski radikalni levi krogi in ste verjeli, da se spodkopavajo akademske svoboščine v Sloveniji.

To, kar je opisano v vaši peticiji, nima nič skupnega z resničnim življenjem.

Pišete, da je »od prihoda desničarskega politika Janeza Janše na oblast vlada zavrnila ponovno imenovanje več direktorjev muzejev in enega direktorja raziskovalnega inštituta«, in poleg tega navajate, da »je treba znanstvenikom omogočiti, da delajo brez takšnega političnega in vladnega vmešavanja«.

Vlada je močno zavezana predpisanemu postopku in namenja veliko pozornosti pravilom in predpisom, ki urejajo imenovanje direktorjev javnih zavodov. Za vsako imenovanje je bil izveden javni natečaj s strogimi merili in pravili, ki določajo, kdo se lahko prijavi na to funkcijo. Potem ko je izbirna komisija Ministrstva za kulturo ministru predlagala najprimernejše kandidate (na podlagi usposobljenosti), je minister vedno vestno upošteval njen predlog. Minister je odločno dal prednost kandidatu, za katerega je bilo objektivno ugotovljeno, da je najbolj usposobljen. Vendar pa v zvezi z imenovanjem direktorjev javnih zavodov zakonodaja določa, da je treba seznam kandidatov, ki jih izbere izbirna komisija, vedno poslati svetom javnih zavodov; ti lahko podajo svoje mnenje o tem, kateri kandidat je primernejši za to funkcijo. Ker so bile veliko let na oblasti leve koalicije, so te svete vedno izbrale leve vlade, zato navadno zavrnejo ministrovo izbiro (ki je praviloma vedno najboljši kandidat v izbirnem postopku) in podajo svoje mnenje, da je primernejši drug kandidat – običajno zdajšnji direktorji ali kandidat, ki je usklajen z levimi centri moči. Vlada ne poskuša spodkopavati strokovnosti takih svetov, vendar pa je pomembno opozoriti, da so bili dejansko imenovani politično, njihova vloga neodvisne svetovalne ustanove pa je v najboljšem primeru vprašljiva. Druga zadeva, ki jo je treba poudariti, je, da ministra za kulturo njihovo mnenje ne zavezuje. Njihova vloga je zgolj svetovalna. To je predpisani postopek v Sloveniji in je enak že tri desetletja. Če minister uporablja svojo diskrecijsko moč, je to pravo orodje za izločanje možno političnih pristranskih mnenj svetov javnih zavodov.

Sistem je sam po sebi političen, saj so sveti imenovani politično, vendar leve vlade v preteklosti nikoli niso imele težav z njim. Obtožbe o političnem vmešavanju se pojavijo šele, ko je na oblasti desna vlada, in se niso nikoli pojavile v četrt stoletja, ko so bile na oblasti leve vlade. Zanašanje ministra na predpisani postopek izbire najboljših kandidatov je edina obramba pred politično imenovanim kadrom. 

V nadaljevanju peticija govori o načrtih za ustanovitev novega muzeja slovenske osamosvojitve in trdi, da bo novi muzej propagandna ustanova, ki spodbuja nacionalistično pripoved o preteklosti, ki je namenjena predvsem podpiranju ideološke agende vladajoče slovenske demokratične stranke. Taka izjava je žaljiva, nezaslišana, nesmiselna in odkrit napad na slovensko suverenost.

Državna osamosvojitev in svoboda, ki ju zagovarja, nista ideologija. To je splošna vrednota, ki je skupna ne le Slovencem, temveč vsemu človeštvu. Muzej bo del praznovanja tridesetletnice vzpostavitve slovenske neodvisnosti. Zanj bodo veljali mednarodni standardi, kuratorji pa bodo poklicni zgodovinarji brez politične pripadnosti, tako bodo lahko zagotovili ustrezno predstavitev slovenskega boja za rešitev iz komunistične diktature.

Številne postkomunistične države, ki so zlomile okove zatiranja, imajo muzej, posvečen tistim usodnim časom v zgodovini države.  Hrvaška ima svoj muzej domovinske vojne, Latvija ima muzej o zasedbi Latvije, Litva ima muzej o zasedbi in borbah za svobodo itd. To nima nič skupnega z nacionalizmom. To je praznovanje svobode in človečnosti. Osamosvojitev je bila projekt vseh slovenskih državljanov (ne le etničnih Slovencev!), ki so se na referendumu o neodvisnosti Slovenije leta 1990 z veliko večino odločili, da bodo živeli v svobodni, demokratični družbi.  Ta dogodek je edini v zgodovini, ki je resnično združil vse slovenske državljane.  Nezaslišano je reči, da bi bil tak muzej propagandna ustanova.

Ne razumemo, kako bi imenovanje direktorjev javnih zavodov in ustanovitev muzeja neodvisnosti kakor koli vplivala na akademsko svobodo v Sloveniji. Zdi se kot popoln »non sequitur«. Že desetletja je imenovanje novih direktorjev rutinsko v času delovanja levih vlad. To je politični proces, vendar proces, ki zahteva redne prehode oblasti, to pa je Sloveniji žal manjkalo večino njene samostojne zgodovine. Zelo nenavadno je, da so zadeve, predstavljene v pismu, prav tiste, s katerimi so imeli v preteklosti težave profesionalni levi slovenski aktivisti. Pravzaprav so slovenskim medijem napisali zelo podobno peticijo, zato močno sumimo, da podpisani niso ustrezno razumeli notranjega dogajanja v naši državi in so zgolj podpisali pismo, ki so ga v Sloveniji napisali Slovenci za Slovence.  

Vendar je pomembno poudariti, da vlada Slovenije močno verjame v avtonomijo in svobodo akademskega sveta, ki med mandatom te vlade nista bili nikoli oslabljeni ali ogroženi.

Na koncu bi radi poudarili, da vlada Janeza Janše ni »desničarska« vlada, kot navaja peticija. Ima dva liberalna leva koalicijska partnerja, oba člana stranke zavezništva liberalcev in demokratov za Evropo ALDE. Slovenija je imela homogene vlade šele, ko so leve stranke oblikovale koalicije. Dejansko so bile v zadnjem desetletju na oblasti leve koalicije, in to devet let od desetih.

Angleška različica

Dear esteemed members of the Academia!

Given that you are not intimately familiar with Slovenian state of affairs, internal political struggles and media manipulations we are not blaming you, that you were so thoroughly mislead by the Slovene radical left academia in believing that academic freedoms in Slovenia are being eroded.

What is described in your petition has no common denominator with real life.

You write that since “rightist politician Janez Janša came to power, the government has refused to reappoint several museum directors and one director of a research institute” and further state that scholars “must be allowed to work without this kind of political and governmental interference”.

The Government is thoroughly committed to following due process and pays utmost attention to rules and regulations that govern appointments of the directors of public institutions. A public competition has been carried out for each appointment, with strict standards and rules governing who can apply for the position. After the Selection board of the Ministry of Culture has suggested the most appropriate candidates (based on competency) to the Minister, he  has always diligently followed its proposal. The Minister steadfastly preferred the candidate which was objectively found to be the best on merit. However, when it comes to appointments of directors of public institutions, the law states that the selection of candidates selected by the Selection board must always be sent to Councils of the public institutions, which are eligible to give their opinion on which candidate is more suited for the function. Due to sheer number of years left-wing coalitions have been in power, those councils have always been selected by left governments, so they tend to negate the Minister’s preferences (which is, as a rule always the top candidate in the selection process) and give their opinion that another candidate  is more suitable - usually the current directors or a candidate aligned by left-wing centers of power. The government is not trying to undermine the professionalism of such Councils; however, it is important to note that they have been indeed nominated politically and their role as an independent consulting institution is at best doubtful. Another thing to stress is that the Minister of Culture in not bound by their opinions. Their role is purely advisory. This is due process in Slovenia, and it has been the same for three decades. In fact – when the Minister uses his power of discretion it is exactly a tool which eliminates the potentially politically biased opinions of the Councils of the public institutions.

The system is inherently political, since the Councils themselves are appointed politically, yet the left-wing governments never took issues with it in the past.  Accusations of political interference only surface once a right-wing government is in power and never during a quarter of a century when left-wing governments have governed. The Minister’s reliance on due process of picking the best candidates is the only line of defense against a politically appointed apparatus. 

The new appointments of various directors have been slandered in public by the media (which by inertia is predominately left-wing) and leftist academia alike. Accusations have been made that candidates are professionally incompetent; some even go so far to call them apparatchiks and SDS shills. This is an enormous insult to these prominent candidates, who came through the selection process with all the required competencies required for the position. These are highly regarded experts in the field, known both domestically and internationally, yet they do not fit into the inner circle of political candidates appointed to these positions in the past.

Next, the petition talks about plans to establish a new Museum of Slovene Independence, claiming that the new museum would be a propaganda institution, promoting nationalist narrative about the past aimed mainly at buttressing the ideological agenda of the ruling Slovene democratic party.” A statement like this is insulting, outrageous, preposterous and an outright attack on Slovenian sovereignty. 

National independence and freedom it espouses is not an ideology. It is a universal value shared not only by Slovenians, but all humanity. The museum will be part of the celebration of the 30^th anniversary of Slovenian independence. It will be subject to international standards and curated by professional historians with no political affiliations, to ensure proper representation of Slovenia’s struggle to break loose from the communist dictatorship.

Many post-communist countries that broke the shackles of oppression, have a museum dedicated to those fateful times in a nation’s history.  Croatia has its Homeland war museum, Latvia has the Museum of the occupation of Latvia, Lithuania has the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights etc. It has nothing to do with nationalism. It is a celebration of freedom and humanity. Independence was a project of all Slovenian citizens (not just ethnic Slovenians!), who have decided by an overwhelming majority to live in a free, democratic society during the 1990 Slovenian independence referendum.  This event is the only one in history that properly united all Slovenian citizens.  To say such a museum would be a propaganda institution is an outrage.

In closing, we fail to see, how appointments of directors of public institutions and an establishment of a Museum of independence would have any effect on academic freedom in Slovenia. It seems like a complete non sequitur. For decades appointing new directors has been a routine during left-wing governments. It is a political process, but a process that requires regular transitions of power, which Slovenia sadly lacked for most of its independent history. It is highly curious that matters put forwards in the letter are precisely the same matters which professional left-wing Slovenian activists had issues with, in the past. In fact, they have written a very similar petition to Slovenian media outlets. Therefore, we strongly suspect that the undersigned have no proper understanding of internal goings-on of our country and have merely signed a letter which was written in Slovenia, by Slovenians and for Slovenians. 

Yet, it is important to highlight that the Government of Slovenia firmly believes in autonomy and freedom of the academia, which has never been undermined or threatened during the course of this Government’s mandate.

Finally, we would also like to highlight that the Government lead by Prime minister Janez Janša is not a “rightist” government, as the petition is suggesting. It has two liberal left-wing coalition partners, both members of the ALDE European alliance. Slovenia only had homogenous governments when left-wing parties formed coalitions. In fact, during the last decade the left-wing coalitions have been in power for 9 out of 10 years.