Dear Mr.  Herman Van Rompuy,

President of the European Council,

Slovenian Members of the European People’s Party, dr. Milan Zver, dr. Romana Jordan, Ms. Zofija Mazej Kukovič and Mr. Lojze Peterle, would like to express our views in regard to the letter that had been sent to you by another Slovenian Member of the European Parliament, Mr. Ivo Vajgl on the 10th January 2013.[1]

We strongly condemn such manner of communication and hereby provide some additional explanation that we believe could contribute to a better understanding of the letter through a wider political context of the current situation inSlovenia.

We would like to emphasise that all political actions, accusations and attacks on political figures, in particular the current Prime Minister of Slovenia, Mr. Janez Janša, should be viewed in the context of current political crisis and reforms in our country. The Prime Minister is known for his independence efforts and his long fight against the former totalitarian regime inSlovenia. In this context we also see the case for the recently published Report of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of theRepublicofSlovenia. This report was prepared by three members of the Commission from which two cannot be considered as independent as one is member of the previous Government (current Opposition) while the second person is a journalist, well known for anti-Janša campaign lasting a decade. Prime Minister Janša repeatedly refuted and clarified the findings of the Report in the media. In addition, legal experts warn that the Report is not in accordance with the Slovenian Constitution.

Sloveniahas been going through difficult economic and social period during recent years. The previous Government (2008-2011) had been inactive and avoided necessary reforms thereby leadingSloveniato an even worse economic and financial crisis. When the current Government started to act in 2012 and adopted some unpopular but necessary reforms, financial indicators finally started to grow again. However, this was when a new dimension of crisis broke out inSlovenia- a political crisis. Slovenian Government is on the right path with new bank reforms, including transparency with which some players will not be happy. We believe that this is one of the reasons for the current political attacks.

Slovenian Members of the European Parliament expressed their concerns on current political situation inSloveniain a meeting with the President of the Republic, Mr. Borut Pahor, on the 9th January this year. We shared our beliefs on the need for cooperation among the whole political spectrum inSloveniain order to safeguard our national interests and lead our citizens and economy out of this crisis. In this view we particularly regret that the letter of Mr. Vajgl was not in line with the spirit of that meeting and was followed by misinterpretation in international media.

Yours sincerely,

dr. Milan Zver

dr. Romana Jordan

Ms. Zofija Mazej Kukovič

Mr. Lojze Peterle