Slovenia

The CIVICUS Monitor upgrades Slovenia's civic space to "Open" highlighting significant strides in fostering civil society engagement and press freedom

December 04, 2024

The CIVICUS Monitor announced in a new report Wednesday that it has upgraded Slovenia’s civic space to "Open" in its annual ratings, highlighting positive steps in fostering civil society engagement and press freedom.

Slovenia’s upgraded rating, detailed in the People Power Under Attack 2024 report, reflects the government’s actions to strengthen democratic processes and promote cooperation. Among the most important steps are the hard-won legislative changes to secure the independence of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenia, new ways to consult with civil society and increased dialogue. These changes signal a clear break from the restrictive policies of the previous government.

In a further move to roll back and remedy unjust restrictions on civic space, a law was passed granting amnesty to those fined under strict COVID-19 policies, which targeted anti-government protesters.

“This year, we saw governments across Europe crack down on protests with sweeping bans and brutal force,” said Tara Petrović, the researcher on Europe and Central Asia for the CIVICUS Monitor. “Slovenia stood out as a rare exception, showing that progress is possible when authorities choose dialogue over repression.”

The CIVICUS Monitor, which is a research consortium led by global civil society alliance CIVICUS, tracked civic space conditions in 198 countries throughout the year. The Monitor determines each country’s rating based on data on civic space incidents collected by dozens of research teams around the world. Incidents may include protests, censorship, arrests of human rights defenders, harassment, and more. Each country then receives a rating between 0-100 based on its incidents, with higher scores indicating more open civic space.

This year Slovenia’s score increased 14 points from 70 to 84, moving it from “Narrowed” to “Open.” An “Open rating” signifies the state both enables and safeguards the enjoyment of civic space for all people. Levels of fear are low as citizens are free to form associations, demonstrate in public places and receive and impart information without restrictions in law or practice.

Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement. Civil society organisations in Slovenia face significant funding obstacles, including a controversial cancelled tender and limited financial support for organisations working to protect the environment and people on the move. Despite positive steps, the government hasn’t fully delivered on election promises. Two years into its mandate, it has yet to introduce media legislation reforms aimed at ensuring the survival of quality, independent journalism and promoting content plurality.

“Following the overt hostility of its predecessors toward journalists and media, the current government pledged to reform media legislation to provide a robust framework for the operation of journalism in a highly challenging domestic and international environment. This includes enacting laws to prevent abuses like those seen two years ago, particularly in ensuring stable funding for public media and establishing effective subsidy schemes for media content production,” said Špela Stare, Secretary General of Association of Journalists of Slovenia. “However, this promise remains unfulfilled. If the government fails to act, it may not be accused of active hostility toward the media, but it also cannot be credited with proactive support.”

Furthermore, civil society, activists and independent journalists continue to be vilified by opposition politicians, including Prime Minister Janez Janša, and politically connected media outlets that seek to cast doubt on their work and discredit their efforts to promote equality and respect for human rights.

“The new liberal government indeed brought calmer times. However, key promises to civil society regarding ensuring better access to public healthcare, a fairer tax policy, and affordable housing for young people remain unrealised, and civil society is practically excluded from their planning,” said Goran Forbici, Director of CNVOS Slovenia. “As the 2026 elections draw near, it is worth remembering that autocratic populists are not winning because of their autocracy, but because of the unwillingness of liberal governments to address and solve the economic and social concerns that plague the people.”

Notes to the Editor:

The CIVICUS Monitor is a research tool that provides quantitative and qualitative data on the state of civil society and civic freedoms in 198 countries and territories. The data is generated through a collaboration with more than 20 civil society research partners, and input from a number of independent human rights evaluations. The data provides the basis for civic space ratings and countries can be rated as either 'Closed', 'Repressed', 'Obstructed', 'Narrowed' or 'Open'.

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact : media@civicus.org

CIVICUS Monitor Sloveniji zvišal oceno civilnodružbenega prostora na stopnjo »odprt« zaradi pomembnih korakov pri spodbujanju civilnodružbenega udejstvovanja in medijske svobode

CIVICUS Monitor je v sredo v svojem novem poročilu oznanil, da je v okviru letnega ocenjevanja Sloveniji zvišal oceno civilnodružbenega prostora na stopnjo “odprt”. Pri tem je izpostavil pozitivne korake pri krepitvi vključevanja civilne družbe in svobode medijev.

Zvišana ocena Slovenije, ki je podrobneje razdelana v poročilu People Power Under Attack 2024, je posledica vladnih aktivnosti za krepitev demokratičnih procesov in sodelovanja. Med najpomembnejšimi koraki so težko izborjene zakonodajne spremembe za zagotovitev neodvisnosti javne RTV Slovenija, novi načini posvetovanja s civilno družbo ter okrepljen dialog. Te spremembe nakazujejo prelom z restriktivnimi politikami prejšnje vlade.

Obenem je bil za odpravo in popravo nepravičnih omejitev civilnodružbenega prostora sprejet tudi zakon o amnestiji za tiste, ki so bili oglobljeni pod strogimi COVID-19 ukrepi, katerih tarča so bili protivladni protestniki.

»Letos smo bili po celi Evropi priča vladnemu zatiranju protestov z množičnimi prepovedmi in brutalno silo,« je povedala Tara Petrović, raziskovalka za Evropo in Srednjo Azijo pri CIVICUS Monitorju. »Slovenija je izstopala kot redka izjema, ki dokazuje, da je napredek mogoč, kadar oblasti izberejo dialog namesto represije.«

CIVICUS Monitor, raziskovalni konzorcij pod vodstvom globalne civilnodružbene mreže CIVICUS, je letos spremljal stanje civilnodružbenega prostora v 198 državah. Ocene držav temeljijo na podatkih o incidentih, povezanih s civilnodružbenim prostorom, ki jih zberejo številne raziskovalne ekipe po celem svetu. Omenjeni incidenti lahko vključujejo proteste, cenzuro, aretacije zagovornikov človekovih pravic, nadlegovanja ipd. Vsaka država prejme oceno med 0 in 100, pri čemer višje število točk pomeni bolj odprt civilni prostor.

Sloveniji se je letos ocena zvišala za 14 točk, iz 70 na 84, kar jo je premaknilo iz “zoženega” v “odprt” civilnodružbeni prostor. Ocena »odprt« pomeni, da država omogoča in varuje civilnodružbeni prostor za vse prebivalce. Raven strahu je nizka, ker lahko državljani svobodno ustanavljajo združenja, demonstrirajo na javnih mestih in brez zakonskih ali praktičnih omejitev prejemajo in razširjajo informacije.

Kljub napredku možnosti za izboljšave ostajajo. Slovenske civilnodružbene organizacije se soočajo s pomembnimi finančnimi težavami, med drugim z odpovedjo kontroverznega razpisa in nezadostno finančno podporo za organizacije, ki delujejo na področju okoljevarstva in migracij. Kljub več pozitivnim korakom vlada tudi ni v celoti izpolnila svojih predvolilnih obljub. Po dveh letih mandata na sprejem še vedno čakajo reforme medijske zakonodaje, ki bi zagotovile preživetje kakovostnega, neodvisnega novinarstva in spodbujale vsebinsko pluralnost.

»Po odkrito sovražnem odnosu njihovih predhodnikov do novinarjev in medijev je trenutna vlada obljubila reformo medijske zakonodaje, ki naj bi vzpostavila trdne temelje za delovanje novinarstva v zelo zahtevnem domačem in mednarodnem okolju. To vključuje sprejem zakonov, ki bi preprečili zlorabe, ki smo jim bili priča pred dvema letoma, zlasti z zagotavljanjem stabilnega financiranja javnih medijev in vzpostavitvijo učinkovitih subvencijskih shem za produkcijo medijskih vsebin,« je povedala Špela Stare, generalna sekretarka Društva novinarjev Slovenije. »Vendar ta obljuba ostaja neizpolnjena. Če vlada ne bo ukrepala, je sicer ne bo mogoče obtožiti aktivnega sovražnega odnosa do medijev, a ji tudi ne pripisati proaktivne podpore.«

Civilna družba, aktivisti in neodvisni novinarji so hkrati še naprej tarča diskreditacij s strani opozicijskih politikov, med njimi bivšega premierja Janeza Janše, ter politično povezanih medijev, ki skušajo spodkopavati njihovo delo in prizadevanja za enakopravnost ter spoštovanje človekovih pravic.

»Z novo liberalno vlado so nastopili mirnejši časi. Vendar ključne obljube civilni družbi, kot so boljši dostop do javnega zdravstva, pravičnejša davčna politika in dostopna stanovanja za mlade, ostajajo neuresničene, civilna družba pa izključena iz reformnega načrtovanja,« je dejal Goran Forbici, direktor CNVOS. »Ker se približujejo volitve leta 2026, se velja spomniti, da avtokratski populisti ne zmagujejo zaradi svoje avtokratičnosti, temveč zaradi nepripravljenosti liberalnih vlad, da naslovijo in rešijo ekonomske in socialne stiske ljudi.«

Opomba za urednike:

CIVICUS Monitor je raziskovalno orodje, ki prinaša kvantitativne in kvalitativne podatke o stanju civilne družbe in državljanskih svoboščin v 198 državah in ozemljih. Zbrani podatki so rezultat sodelovanja več kot 20 raziskovalnih partnerjev in analize vrste neodvisnih evalvacij stanja človekovih pravic. Podatki služijo kot podlaga za oceno civilnodružbenega prostora, države pa so lahko ocenjene z ocenami “zaprt”, “zatiran”, “oviran”, “zožen” ali “odprt” civilnodružbeni prostor.

Za dodatne informacije ali dogovor za intervju se obrnite na: media@civicus.org