In a recent public appearance, during a TV pre-election debate on 17 May, SDS deputy Branko Grims announced that his party would abolish public funding for NGOs if it wins the elections, saying that “300 million EUR are wasted annually for NGOs, such as the Peace Institute and similar organizations, of which Slovenia has no real development benefits”. In a letter expressing serious concerns about this statement, CNVOS Director Goran Forbici explains that if the deputy’s announcement were to be carried out, this would mean the end of state and municipal support to firefighters, cultural, sports, hunting, fishing and tourism societies, as well as the ending of the financing of Catholic and other private educational institutions. The letter went viral and reached approximately 150.000 people only through social media, in addition to all major media reporting about it. Consequently, SDS stepped back a bit and explained that, of course, they will keep financing firefighters, cultural, sports and charitable organisations, while peace institutes and other human rights organisations remain problematic. Read the full letter (in Slovenian) here.
Source: CNVOS