Ljubljana (AFP) – A chill has set in between much of Europe and Israel recently over its treatment of Palestinians, but the Alpine nation of Slovenia is bucking the trend.
Under nationalist Prime Minister Janez Jansa Slovenia is launching a diplomatic reset of its relationship with Israel, which will send its foreign minister to open its first embassy in Ljubljana on Wednesday.
It is an about-face from the policies of the previous centre-left government, which had been one of the EU's most critical voices on Israel's military offensive in Gaza, which it described as "genocide".
And it comes a day after the United Kingdom and other European countries provoked Israeli fury by banning imports from settlements in the occupied West Bank -- the latest move by European governments grappling with growing international condemnation of Israeli policies towards Palestinians.
But in Slovenia, Jansa -- who took office for the fourth time earlier this year, and who is often at loggerheads with the European Union -- has instead received Israeli accolades for defying the EU over the West Bank settlements.
"Thank you PM Jansa for your courage and clarity amidst EU hypocrisy," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X late last month, after Slovenia vetoed an EU statement condemning the settlements.
Under Jansa, Slovenia has also reversed its own ban on imports from the settlements, lifted its arms embargo on Israel and scrapped entry bans on Netanyahu and two of his ministers.
In his first official visit to the country, Israel's top diplomat Gideon Saar will inaugurate the embassy Wednesday, with his ministry describing Jansa as a "friend of Israel".
Jansa has said his government was "only normalising Slovenia's foreign policy and fixing the damage" caused by liberal ex-prime minister Robert Golob.
"To fulfil its priority of improving the well-being of Slovenians, the government will carry out pragmatic policies," Jansa said in another post earlier.
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2 Comments
middlemanSI@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 9d
Not in my name. We had elections, where we mostly voted for Golob, who was still the PM. We had israel meddle in elections and blackmail key figures, which paved the way for fucking Jansa (a convicted criminal) to form a coalition and become PM. Now we are being represented by a Orban-type criminal, who is acting in the interests of himself and his "friends" while embarassing the whole country on the international stage. There are demonstrations happening and petitions being signed (organized by 8Marec), to fix this mess asap.
mirshafie@europe.pub · 1 pts · 9d
Thank you.