Slovenia's debut EU presidency marred by row over press freedom

Taking over the revolving presidency of the European Union was meant to be a diplomatic passing-out parade for the tiny Balkan state of Slovenia. Instead it has become an embarrassment as it has been embroiled in a damaging dispute over press freedom.

Two journalists who launched a petition at the end of last year accusing the government of political meddling, which was signed by 571 Slovenian journalists, said yesterday that they still want an independent inquiry. Their campaign has been backed by the International Press Institute (IPI) and the European Federation of Journalists, which said in a statement: "Slovenia has failed the first test of leadership in Europe by failing to show that it is prepared to deal openly and honestly with serious questions over its own record on dealing with media and journalism."

"There is continuing pressure on journalists," said Matej Surc, a radio journalist who initiated the petition along with his newspaper colleague Blaz Zgaga.

In addition to direct censorship – the newspaper Vecer has pinned censored articles on an office wall known as the "bunker" – the government of the centre-right Prime Minister, Janez Jansa, is accused of indirectly influencing the media through exploiting business relationships with companies that have financial holdings in media interests.

"It all happened in 2006," said Mr Zgaga. "The editors fell like dominoes and editorial policies changed." The lawyer of Lasko Brewery, which owns the daily Delo, admitted on television, for example, that Mr Jansa decided on the appointments to the newspaper's supervisory board, its chief executive and its editor in chief.

It is not the first time that Slovenia, the first republic to break away from former Yugoslavia, has been accused of tactics reminiscent of the Communist era. An international controversy broke out before it joined the EU in May 2004 over the denial of rights to tens of thousands of non-Slovenes, who lost their permanent residence and citizenship in 1992 and became known as "the erased".

What further riles Slovenian journalists who signed the petition is that Mr Jansa is a former journalist. Mr Jansa has dismissed the petition as "a conspiracy of lies" and, according to Mr Zgaga and Mr Surc, is continuing to refuse dialogue.

Both journalists said that since the problems were raised, there has been a slight improvement, although political pressure is still being brought to bear on editors at the state-run television and radio station and the national news agency.

Mr Zgaga said: "I think this softening of the grip of the government is only during the EU presidency."

The Slovenian government has accused the two journalists of spreading "false statements" regarding media freedom in Slovenia, and denies that it is rejecting dialogue.