“We’ll never forget what he’s done for us. But of course we’ll also remember all who were against it and had voted against and obstructed the mosque construction project …” the city councillor from Zoran Janković’s List and secretary general of the Islamic Community in Slovenia, Nevzet Porić, said at yesterday’s session of the Ljubljana city council. The statement shocked many of the councillors of the City of Ljubljana.
The prediction that Ljubljana mayor Zoran Janković would impose the decision of naming a street after a mosque has come true in spite of the view of experts and the public. At yesterday’s session, Ljubljana city councillors voted in favour of the proposal of the City of Ljubljana to name a street “Džamijska ulica” (Mosque Street) with 24 votes in favour and 9 against. The proposal was opposed primarily by the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi) and also by the Bežigrad district community.
Nevzet Porić, city councillor from Zoran Janković’s List, who is better known as secretary general of the Islamic Community in Slovenia, uttered words that should make every Slovenian’s hair stand on end. He had decided that some people are bothered by the building and not the name of the street. He urged councillors to support the name and prove that Ljubljana is a multicultural city. On this occasion, he sang the praises of Zoran Janković for his part in the creation of the Islamic Community. We are quoting his statement that was also broadcast on Radio Slovenia during the morning news bulletin: “We’ll never forget what he’s done for us. But of course we’ll also remember all who were against it and had voted against and obstructed the mosque construction project
Let us recall on this occasion that most of the funds for the construction of the cultural centre came from Qatar, i.e. a country that has recently been isolated by its neighbours due to allegations of terrorist financing. Slovenia itself has a wealth of experience in this area, at least based on recent discoveries regarding the laundering of Iranian money through NLB, and the political responsibility for this is borne primarily by those that support a “multicultural Slovenia”.