Slovenian brown nosing

Based on leaked US State Department cables recently published on the WikiLeaks site, American diplomats insisted with their Slovenian counterparts that they would need to accept a Guantanamo inmate in order to secure a meeting with Barack Obama. Iconic Slovenian news magazine Mladina (Youth), continuing its long tradition for satiric, thought-provoking and critical covers (with stories to match) has caused a storm with their latest edition featuring Slovenian's premier Borut Pahor rimming a much pleased Obama.

Mladina started off as the journal for the Young Communist League (otherwise known as the

Mladina) in Slovenia when it was part of Communist Yugoslavia. By the late 1980s the magazine changed its editorial stance from slavishly following the Party line to being extremely critical of the central authorities in Belgrade. Once taboo subjects such as shady arms sales by Yugoslavia to Third World dictators, the Yugoslav Army's actions in Kosovo and criticism of Tito's personality cult were investigated, lending a voice to the nascent Slovenian independence movement. What brought the most attention were their innovate and provocative covers. The central Yugoslav authorities could not stand this publication anymore and in 1988 promptly arrested Mladina's editors for sedition. The outcry from the Slovenian public from this knee jerk reaction, with huge protests in support of the editors, was the spark that started Slovenia's move to split from Yugoslavia, as it did in 1991.

What is good to see is that Mladina has been true to form and has not compromised on its principles. This is unlike its counterpart in neighbouring Hungary, where too in the late 1980s the 'freedom' movement was led by an alternative youth group called FIDESZ. This grouping eventually transformed itself into a centre-right party and following elections earlier this year now has virtual full control of the country. The rather Putin-like, authoritarian nature of the FIDESZ government is being felt at all levels of Hungarian society, whereby level-headed opposition voices being quietly ignored or forced to take extremist stances. FIDESZ was definitely not your rock'n'roll type of youth organisation cum political party.

Back to Slovenia, Mladina has come under criticism for its rather graphic portrayal of US-Slovenian relations, with some conservative and religious elements concerned about children seeing such content as their cover publicly. Or perhaps the truth hurts.