STA, 28 March, 2018 -
Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec has indicated Slovenia is unlikely to take any action against Russia in the aftermath of the Salisbury nerve agent attack despite facing criticism that not expelling any Russian diplomats puts it in the pro-Russian camp.
"I think it's necessary to clarify what happened; the matter is quite unclear, indeed it is bizarre. As far as I'm concerned, I don't see a reason to propose a measure," Erjavec told the press after a meeting of his Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) on Wednesday.
Aside from the lack of clarity, the government has been relegated to caretaker role and Erjavec indicated taking any action with regard to Russia did not fall within the scope of activities a caretaker government can perform.
"Opinions are leaning in the direction that this is not a subject for a caretaker government. Even the parliament speaker thinks that," he said.
The government's legal service has been tasked with determining whether the government could take any action in this regard, he said.
Despite the uncertainty over government powers, Erjavec expects that the government will at least debate the issue at its regular session on Thursday, even if it does not take any decisions.
Social Democratic (SD) president Dejan Židan, like Erjavec a deputy prime minister, echoed Erjavec's position that Slovenia should be cautious since the case is reminiscent of the prelude to the invasion of Iraq.
"At that time, the security services provided the evidence. The entire world knelt under heavy pressure from the US and Great Britain, but in the end it turned out to have been an invasion motivated by economic interests," he said prior to a meeting of the coalition.
Židan believes firm evidence is needed. "We should not jump the gun, instead we should realize that if anyone, Slovenia understands the Russian nation and their way of thinking."
Slovenian politics is not united on the issue, with the centre-right opposition strongly criticising the government as being pro-Russian.
Indeed, Jožef Horvat, the New Slovenia (NSi) chair of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee, has suggested the parliament should be the one to decide on any measures against Russia now that the government is in caretaker role.
Whereas Erjavec disputes this notion, the Foreign Policy Committee will nevertheless discuss Russia. Horvat said today the session will be held on 5 April.
Slovenia is one of the few EU countries not to expel Russian diplomats over the 4 March nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergey Skripal and his daughter, which is believed to have been perpetrated by Russia.
A total of 19 EU countries have expelled Russian diplomats, as well as several other European countries, the US, Canada and Australia.
