Borut Pahor Aiming At Palestine, Shooting For A Comeback

Former president Borut Pahor went on national telly last Sunday and – among other things – said that while he is shocked (shocked!) over events in Gaza, he wouldn’t go so far to describe them as genocide. This was a direct rebuke of his successor Nataša Pirc Musar who did describe the atrocities in Palestine as genocide during her European Parliament address.

Borut Pahor on national television, avoiding the definition of a genocide (source)
Borut Pahor avoiding the definition of a genocide (source)

Obviously, what Borut Pahor says or does not say, has no influence on facts on the ground. It only reinforces the image of a self-serving (former?) politician, unable to take a principled stance on even the most basic of ethical questions. But it also raises (for the lack of a better word) an interesting question: has he gone mental? Because word on the street is that Pahor is attempting a political comeback.

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Fuck Around And TEŠ 6

In a development that surprised a grand total of zero people, due to the TEŠ 6 project, the Šoštanj coal power plant is going bust. Bankrupt. Done for. Broke. Insolvent, even. The government announced yesterday that it will draft an emergency bailout legislation to safeguard the plant’s thermal energy production, vital for some 35,000 residents in the region.

Fuck around and find out meme featuring TEŠ 6 as its centrepiece.
TEŠ 6 entering the find out phase

Such is the inglorious end of one of the largest and most expensive infrastructure projects since the completion of the motorway network. That is not to say that TEŠ (and, specifically, the infamous Unit 6) will be shutting down tomorrow. But the site and the connected “coal” mine will now be on life support, indefinitely. Lest they drag down half of the Slovenian energy sector with them.

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Like A Bad Penny, Borut Pahor Keeps Turning Up

While pengovsky was in the US chasing the solar eclipse, Borut Pahor was apparently chasing an EU gig. After none of the high-profile jobs he so often hinted at panned out (to great astonishment of a grand total of zero people), the former president would now like to be the EU’s Kumbaya man for Kosovo and Serbia.

Borut Pahor and Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić
Aca Vučić and Borut Pahor (right) (source)

Officially styled as EU Special Representative for Belgrade – Priština dialogue and other Western Balkans regional issues, it is a thankless job. The gig mostly involves coming up with excuses to organise meet-ups between Aca Vučić and whoever Kosovo’s top ćulaf is at any given time, while allowing the two countries can continue to pretend the other doesn’t exist.

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Anže Logar Takes The Plunge

Former presidential hopeful, foreign minister in the last Janša regime and SDS wonderboy Anže Logar made the long-anticipated, on-again-off-again move and went solo. That said, “plunge” in the title is doing a lot of heavy diving, as it were. If anything, he jumped into the kiddy pool, with floaties on and daddy watching from the sidelines.

Anže Logar and founding members of Platforma Sodelovanja.
Platforma Sodelovanja skeleton crew /w Anže Logar in the middle (source)

Logar, still very much a leading Party member, followed the well-established playbook on launching a high-profile political project in Muddy Hollows. He formed an association. A true, honest-to-god debate club. Think Gentlemen’s Horticultural Society, only it includes women, too. And so, Platforma Sodelovanja (Platform of Cooperation) was born.

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Will Robert Golob Party Like It’s 2011?

By the time you read this, it will have been almost a year since Robert Golob wiped the floor with Janez Janša at the ballot box. But if the first couple of months were a case study in differences between the Big Bird and the Glorious Leader, a new and most unflattering comparison crept up lately. Comparing prime minister Golob to none other than Borut fucking Pahor.

Robert Golob chased by the shadow of Borut Pahor
The ghost of Borut Pahor past

It is a complete coincidence that pengovsky’s last post was on the political legacy of the King of Instagram. Or, rather, the lack thereof. But maybe this is not a coincidence. Maybe it is just the universe trying to point out the goddamn obvious. Namely, that if he is not careful, Robert Golob will piss away all the political advantage he has and end up chasing his own tail while the world around him starts burning yet again. Party like it’s 2011, anyone?

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