Photo: Collected
The Alpine country of Slovenia has begun a new realignment of diplomatic relations with Israel under the leadership of its nationalist Prime Minister Janez Jansa. Although Israel’s relations with most European countries have recently become strained over its treatment of Palestinians, Slovenia is walking the exact opposite path. According to a Ljubljana-based report by news agency AFP, Israel is sending its foreign minister there on Wednesday to open its first embassy in the country.
This initiative is completely opposite to the policy of Slovenia’s outgoing centre-left government. The previous government had termed Israel’s military operation in Gaza ‘genocide’ and was known as one of Israel’s fiercest critics in the European Union (EU). Israel recently became extremely angry with several European countries, including the United Kingdom, for banning the import of goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. This announcement from Slovenia came right after these steps taken by European countries against the backdrop of growing anger around the world over its Palestinian policy.
Jansa, who took office as prime minister for the fourth time earlier this year, often has differences with the EU. However, he has earned Israel’s praise for going against the EU’s position on the issue of West Bank settlements. Under Jansa’s leadership, Slovenia has withdrawn the import ban on the settlements, lifted the arms embargo on Israel and also revoked the travel ban imposed on Benjamin Netanyahu and two of his ministers.
Israel’s top diplomat Gideon Saar will formally inaugurate the embassy on a visit to Slovenia on Wednesday. His ministry has termed Jansa a ‘friend of Israel’. According to Jansa, his government is only bringing Slovenia’s international relations back onto a normal course, overcoming the damage that was done to foreign policy by the policies of former liberal prime minister Robert Golob.
Meanwhile, Darijan Kosir, a columnist of the daily ‘Dnevnik’, commented in an article that Jansa is now acting as a ‘Trojan horse of the United States and Israel’ in the EU, taking the place of Hungary’s veteran leader Viktor Orban, who lost the election in April. On the other hand, Danilo Turk, professor of international law at the University of Ljubljana and former president, told AFP that Slovenia has now ‘turned into a puppet of Israeli policy’, which he described as an extremely uncomfortable situation.
