title: Ginza

text: Ginza ( ; ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous internationally renowned department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses located in its vicinity. It is considered to be one of the most expensive, elegant, and luxurious city districts in the world.


title: Ginza

text: Ginza was a part of the old Kyobashi ward of Tokyo City, which, together with Nihonbashi and Kanda, formed the core of Shitamachi, the original downtown center of Edo (Tokyo).


title: Ginza

text: Ginza was built upon a former swamp that was filled in during the 16th century. The name Ginza comes after the establishment of a silver-coin mint established there in 1612, during the Edo period.


title: Ginza

text: After a devastating fire in 1872 burned down most of the area, the Meiji government designated the Ginza area as a "model of modernization." The government planned the construction of fireproof brick buildings and larger, better streets connecting Shimbashi Station all the way to the foreign concession in Tsukiji.


title: Ginza

text: Soon after the fire, redevelopment schemes were prepared by Colin Alexander McVean a chief surveyor of the Public Works under direction of Yamao Yozo, but execution designs were provided by the Irish-born engineer Thomas Waters; the Bureau of Construction of the Ministry of Finance was in charge of construction. In the following year, a Western-style shopping promenade on the street from the Shinbashi bridge to the Kyōbashi bridge in the southwestern part of Chūō with two- and three-story Georgian brick buildings was completed.


title: Ginza

text: These "bricktown" buildings were initially offered for sale and later were leased, but the high rent prevented many of them from being permanently occupied. Moreover, the construction was not adapted to the climate, and the bold design contrasted the traditional Japanese notion of home construction. The new Ginza was not popular with visiting foreigners, who were looking for a more Edo-styled city. Isabella Bird visited in 1878 and in 1880 implied that Ginza was less like an Oriental city than like the outskirts of Chicago or Melbourne. Philip Terry, the English writer of tour guides, likened it to Broadway, not in a positive sense.


title: Ginza

text: Nevertheless, the area flourished as a symbol of "civilization and enlightenment" thanks to the presence of newspapers and magazine companies, which helped spread the latest trends of the day. The area was also known for its window displays, an example of modern marketing techniques. Everyone visited so the custom of "killing time in Ginza" developed strongly between the two world wars.


title: Ginza

text: Most of these European-style buildings disappeared, but some older buildings still remain, most famously the Wakō building with the now-iconic Hattori Clock Tower. The building and the clock tower were originally built by Kintarō Hattori, the founder of Seiko.


title: Ginza

text: Its recent history has seen it as a prominent outpost of Western luxury shops. Ginza is a popular destination on weekends, when the main north-south artery is closed to traffic since the 1960s, under governor Ryokichi Minobe.


title: Ginza

text: Many leading fashion houses' flagship stores are located here, in the area with the highest concentration of Western shops in Tokyo. It is one of two locations in Tokyo considered by Chevalier and Mazzalovo to be the best locations for a luxury goods store. Prominent high-end retailers include the American company Carolina Herrera New York, French companies Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton and Saint Laurent, Italian company Gucci and Austrian brands Swarovski and Riedel.


title: Ginza

text: Flagship electronic retail stores like the Sony showroom (which closed in 2017 and new building would open in 2022) and the first Apple Store outside the United States are also here (Ginza 2 chome). The electronics company, Ricoh is headquartered in the Ricoh Building in Ginza. The neighborhood is a major shopping district. It is home to Wako department store, which is located in a building dating from 1894. The building has a clock tower. There are many department stores in the area, including Hankyu, Seibu, and Matsuya, in which there are many shops: grocery stores, restaurants, women and men clothes, sports wear, and jewellers etc. There are also art galleries.


title: Ginza

text: Kabuki-za is the theater for kabuki, one of Japanese traditional playing, and locates on between Ginza and Tsukiji. The building was opened in 1889 and has been reconstructed several times because of war and fire. The present building was built in 2013.


title: Ginza

text: Each Saturday and Sunday, from 12:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., the main street through Ginza is closed off to road traffic, allowing people to walk freely. This is called or "Hokoten" for short, literally meaning "pedestrian heaven". There are some people who do street performance such as magic and playing instruments. As a famous photo spot, some cats sleep on signs, where people can put their own cats onto these signs. The location where cats are is different depending on the date.


title: Luguentz Dort

text: Luguentz Dort (born April 19, 1999; or ) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Arizona State Sun Devils.


title: Luguentz Dort

text: Dort completed his high school career at the Athlete Institute in Mono, Ontario, where he was rated as high as a five-star recruit and was one of the top high school players in Canada. In his first year with Arizona State, he earned second-team All-Pac-12 Conference honors and was named to the all-defensive team in the Pac-12. He was also voted the conference’s freshman of the year.


title: Luguentz Dort

text: Dort was born in Montreal, Quebec to Haitian parents who moved to Canada from Saint-Marc when they were around 21 years old. Growing up in Montréal-Nord, he first played soccer as a goalkeeper, but his brothers later influenced him to play basketball. Dort played street basketball at Saint Laurent Park near his home in Montreal. His involvement in the sport helped him avoid joining street gangs like some of his friends. At age 12, Dort began playing organized basketball in Park Extension, a neighborhood in Montreal, where he was coached by Nelson Ossé. He started weight training at age 15. At this time, his height was . He would continue to grow about one inch per year through the rest of his teenage years.


title: Luguentz Dort

text: Dort spent his freshman season at the high school level in Quebec. Through his high school years, he competed for Brookwood Elite on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit. In July 2015, he played for Canada at the adidas Nations tournament, averaging 9.2 points and 4 rebounds through 4 games. As a sophomore, Dort transferred to Arlington Country Day School in Jacksonville, Florida to face better competition and learn English. Before moving, his coach Nelson Ossé urged him to improve his poor academic performance. In August 2016, Dort averaged 11.3 points through 6 games to lead Canada to second place at adidas Nations. Later in the month, he was invited to the Nike Americas Team Camp, where he was named most valuable player (MVP) of the All-Star game. Dort moved to Conrad Academy in Orlando, Florida for his junior season, following his former Arlington Country Day coach Shaun Wiseman. In 2017, he took part in adidas Nations and the Nike Hoop Summit All-Star game. Dort also scored 30 points to win team MVP honors at the BioSteel All-Canadian Basketball Game. On October 18, 2017, he committed to play college basketball for Arizona State, becoming the program's most touted recruit since James Harden in 2007. As a senior, Dort joined the Athlete Institute, a prep school in Mono, Ontario. In April 2018, he reclaimed team MVP accolades at the BioSteel All-Canadian Game after recording 34 points and 8 rebounds.


title: Luguentz Dort

text: On November 6, 2018, Dort made his debut for Arizona State, tallying 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals in a 102–94 win over Cal State Fullerton in double-overtime. He broke the school record for freshman debut points. Dort, on November 12, recorded his first double-double, with 12 points and 12 rebounds in a 90–58 win over Long Beach State. On November 21, he posted 33 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists against Utah State in the heavyweight bracket of the MGM Resorts Main Event, scoring the third-most points by a freshman in Arizona State history. He was named MVP of the tournament. A few days later, Dort was named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week. He struggled offensively towards the end of December, shooting a combined 9-of-45 from the field through four games from December 15 to 29.


title: Luguentz Dort

text: Following Arizona State's loss in the 2019 NCAA men's basketball tournament, Dort announced his intention to forgo his final three seasons of collegiate eligibility and declare for the 2019 NBA draft.


title: Luguentz Dort

text: After going undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, Dort signed a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He made his NBA debut on December 6, 2019, playing 7 minutes and grabbing one rebound in an overtime win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. On January 29, 2020, Dort scored a then career-high 23 points with two rebounds, a steal and a block in a 120–100 win over the Sacramento Kings.


title: Luguentz Dort

text: In the 2020 NBA playoffs, Dort was lauded for his defense on James Harden during a seven game round one loss and for, by at least one measure, being "the highest-effort defensive player in the NBA."


title: Luguentz Dort

text: On June 24, 2020, the Thunder announced that they had re-signed Dort to a 4-year, $5.4 million contract. On April 13, 2021, Dort scored a career-high 42 points in a 106–96 loss to the Utah Jazz, making seven 3-pointers in the process, also a career-high.


title: Luguentz Dort

text: On February 2, 2022, Dort scored a season-high 30 points, including 14 straight for the Thunder to end the game, in a 120–114 overtime win against the Dallas Mavericks. On March 8, he underwent season-ending surgery to address a labrum tear in his left shoulder.


title: Luguentz Dort

text: On July 6, 2022, after he had his team option declined, Dort re-signed with the Thunder on a five-year, $87.5 million contract.


title: Luguentz Dort

text: On May 24, 2022, Dort agreed to a three-year commitment to play with the Canadian senior men's national team.


title: Michael Dougherty

text: Michael Patrick Dougherty (born October 28, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and animator, best known for the cult horror film "Trick 'r Treat" (2007), and the monster film "" (2019).


title: Michael Dougherty

text: Dougherty was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He attended the Tisch School of Arts at New York University in the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television, which is where he produced his 1996 short film "Season's Greetings".


title: Michael Dougherty

text: Dougherty made his directorial and writing debut with the animated short film "Season's Greetings", which was released in 1996.


title: Michael Dougherty

text: Dougherty went on to co-write several screenplays, including the superhero sequel "X2", which was released in 2003. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the 2005 supernatural horror film "", and "Superman Returns", which was released in 2006.


title: Michael Dougherty

text: Dougherty made his feature directorial debut with the cult horror anthology film "Trick 'r Treat". It played at several film festivals, before being released on DVD on October 6, 2009 in the US and Canada. It received acclaim and went on to gain a cult following in subsequent years. The short film "Season's Greetings", which was the precursor to "Trick 'r Treat", was released as a DVD extra and was aired on FEARnet in October 2013 as part of a 24-hour "Trick 'r Treat" marathon on Halloween.


title: Michael Dougherty

text: In December 2014, he began work on the Christmas horror film "Krampus", which was released to moderate critical and commercial success in December 2015. He also co-wrote the story for the film "" (2016). Dougherty directed the science fiction sequel "", for which he wrote the script with Zach Shields, from a story by himself, Shields, and Max Borenstein. The film was released in 2019, to mixed reviews and grossed $386 million worldwide.


title: Michael Dougherty

text: In April 2020, HBO was announced to be developing a "Hellraiser" television series that would serve as "an elevated continuation and expansion" of its mythology, with Mark Verheiden and Dougherty writing and David Gordon Green directing several episodes. The three will executive produce with Danny McBride, Jody Hill, Brandon James and Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment.


title: Michael Dougherty

text: Dougherty also co-wrote the story for "Godzilla vs. Kong" with Zach Shields and Terry Rossio. The film was released in May 2021 to generally positive reviews and grossed over $468 million worldwide.


title: Michael Dougherty

text: Bryan Singer, Dougherty and Dan Harris provided the plots to four comic book prequels to "Superman Returns". The four forty-page comic book prequels were published by DC Comics throughout the month of June 2006 and bridged the gap between the second Superman film and "Superman Returns".


title: Michael Dougherty

text: In 2015, with Todd Casey, Zach Shields and Marc Andeyko, Dougherty co-wrote and created a comic book tie in to "Trick 'r Treat", titled "Trick 'r Treat: Days of the Dead". It featured four new short stories, spanning centuries. They depict a variety of characters and cultures, going back to the holiday's roots in ancient Ireland. Later that year, with Casey, Zach and Laura Shields, Dougherty published a tie-in to "Krampus", titled "Krampus: Shadows of Saint Nicholas". It features three stories which expand the mythology of the Krampus.


title: Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

text: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" is a line from the 1939 film "Gone with the Wind" starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. The line is spoken by Rhett Butler (Gable), as his last words to Scarlett O'Hara (Leigh), in response to her tearful question: "Where shall I go? What shall I do?" Scarlett clings to the hope that she can win him back. This line is slightly different in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel "Gone with the Wind", from which the film is derived: "My dear, I don't give a damn."


title: Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

text: The line demonstrates that Rhett has finally given up on Scarlett and their tumultuous relationship. After more than a decade of fruitlessly seeking her love, he no longer cares what happens to her, even though she has finally admitted that she really loves him.


title: Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

text: Prior to the film's release, censors objected to the use of the word "damn" in the film, a word that had been prohibited by the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code, beginning in July 1934. However, before 1930 the word "damn" had been relatively common in films. In the silent era, John Gilbert even shouted "Goddamn you!" to the enemy during battle in "The Big Parade" (1925). The Production Code was ratified on March 31, 1930, and was effective for motion pictures whose filming began afterward. Thus, talkies that used "damn" include "Glorifying the American Girl" (1929), "Flight" (1929), "Gold Diggers of Broadway" (1929), "Hell's Angels" (1930), "The Big Trail" (1930), "The Dawn Patrol" (1930), "The Green Goddess" (1930) and "Dracula" (1931). Although legend persists that the Hays Office fined producer David O. Selznick $5,000 for using the word "damn", in fact the MPPDA board passed an amendment to the Production Code a month and a half before the film's release, on November 1, 1939, that allowed use of the words "hell" or "damn" when their use "shall be essential and required for portrayal, in proper historical context, of any scene or dialogue based upon historical fact or folklore...or a quotation from a literary work, provided that no such use shall be permitted which is intrinsically objectionable or offends good taste". With that amendment, the Production Code Administration had no further objection to Rhett's closing line. It is actually the second use of "damn" in the film. The term "damn Yankees" is heard in the parlor scene at Twelve Oaks.


title: Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

text: This quotation was voted the number one movie line of all time by the American Film Institute in 2005. However, Marlon Brando was critical of Gable's delivery of the line, commenting—in the audio recordings distributed by "Listen to Me Marlon" (2015)—that "When an actor takes a little too long as he's walking to the door, you know he's gonna stop and turn around and say, 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.'"


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The United Self-Defences of Colombia ("Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia", or AUC, in Spanish) was a Colombian far-right paramilitary and drug trafficking group which was an active belligerent in the Colombian armed conflict during the period from 1997 to 2006. The AUC was responsible for retaliations against the FARC and ELN communist organization as well as numerous attacks against civilians beginning in 1997 with the Mapiripán massacre.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The militia had its roots in the 1980s when militias were established by drug lords to combat rebel kidnappings and extortion by communist guerrillas. In April 1997 the AUC was formed through a merger, orchestrated by the ACCU, of local right-wing militias, each intending to protect different local economic, social and political interests by fighting left-wing insurgents in their areas.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The organization was believed to have links to some local military commanders in the Colombian Armed Forces. According to Human Rights Watch, the paramilitary groups and the armed forces of Colombia share a very close connection and due to which paramilitary groups are also perceived as an extension, more commonly called sixth-division, of the Colombia's armed forces which has five official divisions.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The AUC had about 20,000 members and was heavily financed through the drug trade and through support from local landowners, cattle ranchers, mining or petroleum companies and politicians.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The Colombian military has been accused of delegating to AUC paramilitaries the task of murdering peasants and labor union leaders, amongst others suspected of supporting the rebel movements and the AUC publicly and explicitly singled out 'political and trade union operatives of the extreme left' as legitimate targets. Powerful links to the Colombian government were never proved. The AUC was designated as a terrorist organization by many countries and organizations, including the United States, Canada and the European Union.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The bulk of the AUC's blocs demobilized by early 2006 and its former top leadership was extradited to the U.S. in 2008. However, local successors such as the Black Eagles continue to exist and death threats have been made using its name. On May 8, 2008, employees of a community radio station (Sarare FM Stereo) received a message stating: "For the wellbeing of you and your loved ones, do not meddle in subjects that do not concern the radio station. AUC, Arauca". A few days later the letters AUC were daubed on the front of their office. This threat was made due to their participation in a public meeting attended by members of a Congressional Human Rights Commission on the 27 September 2007. Here, members of the public denounced human rights abuses committed in Arauca Department by different parties to the armed conflict, including the AUC.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The AUC's main enemies were the leftist insurgency groups Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army ("Ejército de Liberación Nacional", ELN). The AUC was designated as a terrorist organization by many countries and organizations, including the United States, Canada and the European Union. The U.S. State Department added the AUC to the list in 2001, condemning it for massacres, torture, and other human rights abuses against civilians.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: According to the Colombian National Police, in the first ten months of 2000 the AUC conducted 804 assassinations, 203 kidnappings, and 75 massacres with 507 victims. The AUC claims the victims were mostly guerrillas or sympathizers. Combat tactics consist of conventional and guerrilla operations against main force insurgent units. AUC clashes with military and police units gradually increased, although the group has traditionally been friendly with government security forces.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: A February 2005 report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that, during 2004, "the AUC was responsible for 342 cases of violations of the cessation of hostilities. These include the presumed reincorporation of demobilized persons into its ranks, massacres, forced displacements, selective and systematic homicides, kidnappings, rape, disappearances, threats, intimidation and lootings. These actions took place in 11 departments and targeted the civilian population, in many cases indigenous communities."


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Human Rights Watch reports allege that numerous elements within the Colombian military and police have collaborated with or continue to tolerate local AUC paramilitary groups.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Under the leadership of Salvatore Mancuso, son of Italian immigrants, the AUC maintained close links with the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta concerning cocaine trafficking.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: One of the AUC's targets has been Colombian trade unions. Carlos Castaño said that "We kill trade unionists because they interfere with people working."


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: In March 2007, the international fruit corporation, Chiquita, admitted to having paid the AUC from 1997 to 2004 US$1.7 million ostensibly in order to protect its workers and operations, in Urabá and Santa Marta, of which at least US$825,000 came after the AUC was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US State Department in 2001. These payments were often made through a group belonging to the Convivir network, a government-sponsored program of rural security cooperatives. The payments were arranged during a 1997 meeting between Carlos Castaño with officials from Banadex, a subsidiary of Chiquita. Chiquita subsequently made a plea bargain with the United States Department of Justice, and agreed to pay a $25 million fine. Colombia's attorney general, Mario Iguarán, also opened a case on Chiquita. He stated that he will request the extradition of eight Chiquita officials connected to the case. He has also charged Chiquita of using one of their ships to smuggle weapons (some 3,400 AK-47 rifles and 4 million rounds of ammunition) for the AUC. These charges were first brought ahead in a 2003 report from the Organization of American States (OAS).


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Later, Attorney General Iguarán contradicted himself by claiming the extraditions could not be completed since the implicated persons had not been "identified and charged." Specifically, Iguarán asserted "there are indeed some Chiquita Brands directors, but we are not able to ask for them in extradition, rather we have to have some information contained in the agreement reached with the U.S. court that includes a confidentiality agreement." Nonetheless, specific information on the identities of the Chiquita directors, executives, and senior employees – namely Cyrus Freid Heim jr., Roderick M. Hills, Robert Olson, Morten Arzen, Jeffery D. Benjamin, Steven Stanbrook, Durk I. Jager, Jaime Serra, Robert F. Kistenberger, James B. Riley, Robert W. Fisher, Carl H. Linder, Keith Linder, and Steven Warshaw – have already been presented before the Attorney General's Office.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: According to a 1989 Colombian Secret Police intelligence report, apart from training Carlos Castao in 1983, Israeli trainers arrived in Colombia in 1987 to train him and other paramilitaries who would later make up the AUC. Fifty of the paramilitaries’ “best” students were then sent on scholarships to Israel for further training according to a Colombian police intelligence report.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: After a ceasefire was declared (which in practice has been publicly admitted by the AUC and the government to be partial, resulting in a reduction but not the cessation of killings), the government of President Álvaro Uribe began talks with the group with the aim to eventually dismantle the organization and reintegrate its members to society. The stated deadline for completing the demobilization process was originally December 2005, but was later extended into February 2006. Between 2003 and February 2, 2006, about 17,000 of the AUC's 20,000 fighters surrendered their weapons. This is more than double the figure originally estimated by the government before negotiations began.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: A draft law was presented to the public which offered to pardon the members of any illegal armed group (which would legally include both guerrillas and paramilitaries, (i.e. members of both left- and right-wing groups) that declared a ceasefire and entered talks with the government, in return for, mainly, their verified demobilization, concentration within a specific geographic area and the symbolic reparation of the offenses committed against the victims of their actions. After much discussion and controversy over it, a further revised draft was distributed to the media and political circles. This new project was not officially submitted for approval by Congress and further public discussion on the matter continued.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The bill, among other details, called for the creation of a three to five member Truth Tribunal which would study each case brought before it (at the request of the president), after the groups/individuals sign an agreement to respect international humanitarian laws and accept the authority of the Tribunal, in exchange for a minimum sentence of five to ten years (part of it could possibly be served outside jail) for those guilty of the most serious crimes, the confession of the crimes which were committed in connection with the activities of the illegal armed group, and the completion of concrete acts of reparation towards the victims.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: If the Tribunal were to deny the benefits to anyone, there would be no possibility of reconsideration. However, the president would be able to veto individuals who did receive a favorable sentence. This new draft version of the law would have been in effect only until 31 December 2006.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Human Rights Watch spokesman José Miguel Vivanco publicly stated, during one of the final audiences which were created to discuss aspects of the original bill (of which he remained highly critical), that the new proposition seemed to be considerably more in line with international standards, at first glance, but that more needed to be done in order to fully resolve the issue.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Salvatore Mancuso, one of the AUC's main commanders, publicly expressed that he was against both any potential extradition of either himself or his "comrades in arms" to the USA and refused "spending a single day in jail".


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Also, there have been internal conflicts within the illegal organization, as other AUC leaders have mutually accused each other of being tainted with narcotrafficking and their troops have even met in combat. These different, regionalistic and sometimes warring factions within the AUC, make successfully concluding any peace initiative a considerably difficult task.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: In mid-May 2004, the talks appeared to move forward as the government agreed to grant the AUC leaders and 400 of their bodyguards a 142 square mile (368 km²) safe haven in Santa Fe de Ralito, Córdoba, where, under OAS verification, further discussions will be held, for a (renewable) trial period of 6 months. As long the AUC leaders remain in this area, they will not be subject to arrest warrants.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: That condition and most of remaining legal framework invoked was previously implemented for the much larger San Vicente del Caguán area that former president Andrés Pastrana granted the FARC guerrillas as safe haven during the 1998–2002 peace process, but there are differences:


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Paramilitary leader Carlos Mauricio García alias "Doble Cero" ("Double Zero") or "Rodrigo", who since the 1980s had been a close associate of Castaño within the AUC, was found dead on 30 May 2004. He had strongly objected to what he considered an improperly close relationship between the AUC and drug traffickers, and was also opposed to the group's talks with the government. "Double Zero" had fallen into disgrace in recent years, leading to the formation of his own independent "Bloque Metro" ("Metro Bloc"), which operated in the Antioquia area until it was exterminated by rival paramilitary commanders from the AUC mainstream.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Separately, in events which remain clouded and confusing, former AUC supreme leader Carlos Castaño, who had become relatively isolated from the organization, apparently suffered an attempt on his life on 16 April 2004, presumably at the hands of either his own bodyguards, those of rival paramilitary troops, or perhaps even other entities altogether. Acting AUC commanders claim to believe that there was an accidental exchange of gunfire between his bodyguards and a separate group of paramilitary fighters, but that he may still be alive and possibly in hiding.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Other independent sources within the group and among its dissident factions claim that he and his men were captured and tortured before being executed and then buried by order of other AUC top leaders (perhaps his own brother Vicente Castaño and/or Diego Fernando Murillo), who have become increasingly close to narcotraffickers and their trade. Investigators found a makeshift grave and an unidentified body (yet apparently not Castaño's) near the supposed area of the events. Those same sources allege that the bodies of Castaño and his other companions were dug up and taken to other locations before the investigators could arrive.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: It has been speculated in the Colombian and international press that this could be a potential blow to the peace process, as Castaño seemed to become relatively critical of the increasing association with narcotraffickers in recent years and more willing to compromise with the Colombian state, and thus the remaining AUC commanders (such as Mancuso and "Don Berna") would potentially maintain a much less open negotiating position in the ongoing talks with the Uribe government.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The death of AUC co-founder Carlos Castaño remained unexplained for two years, and was subject of wild and rampant speculation. One of the more exotic rumours (dating to 1 June 2004), stated that unidentified diplomatic sources told the AFP agency that Castaño had been spirited away to Israel, via Panama, with U.S. assistance. No specific reasoning or details regarding this claim were produced. The governments of the United States, Colombia, and Israel denied these allegations.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Details about Castaño's possible fate began to emerge in 2006. The Cali-based "Nuevo Diario Occidente" reported that an assassin hired by Vicente Castaño confessed to the police that he had killed Castaño in 2004. This assassin's confessions allowed Colombian authorities to locate Castaño's body in August 2006, and DNA tests confirmed its identity in September that year.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: In early May 2004, Venezuelan authorities arrested at least 100 individuals that they accused of being Colombian paramilitaries and of scheming, together with part of the Venezuelan opposition, to begin a series of scheduled attacks against heavily fortified military targets within Caracas, aiming at the overthrow of President Hugo Chávez.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The AUC officially denied that they had anything to do with them. President Uribe congratulated the Venezuelan president for the capture and pledged to cooperate with the investigation, while President Chávez himself declared that, as far as he was concerned, he did not believe that Uribe had anything to with the operation, for which he blamed "elements" within "the oligarchies of Miami and Bogotá", also implicating individual high-ranking U.S. and Colombian military officers, who have denied such involvement.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Vice-president Francisco Santos Calderón added that he hoped that the Venezuelan government would pursue with equal zeal those FARC and ELN guerrillas who would also be present in Venezuela. The Venezuelan opposition dismissed the whole event as a "setup", claiming that Chávez intended to interfere with the potential approval of a referendum which sought to remove him from power.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: In November 2004, the Supreme Court approved the extradition to the United States of top paramilitary leaders Salvatore Mancuso and Carlos Castaño, together with that of the guerrilla commander Simón Trinidad, the only one of the men to be in state custody (Castaño's extradition was approved because the court considered that the matter of his death was not yet clear).


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The court ruled that the three US extradition requests, all for charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, respected current Colombian legal procedures and therefore they could now proceed, once the president gave his approval.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: It has been speculated in the Colombian press that the government would possibly approve the extradition of Salvatore Mancuso, but would delay it for the duration of the peace talks that he and his organization are conducting with the state. Mancuso himself has declared that he will continue to participate in the process despite the Supreme Court's ruling.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: In early December and late November, there have been new events in the peace negotiations with the AUC. First, several hundred men of the Bloque Bananero (loosely translated, the Banana Producers' Bloc) turned in their weapons and demobilized in order to be reintegrated into civilian life. This group operated in the Uraba region of northern Antioquia, where the AUC had dislodged the FARC and gained total control in the mid- to late nineties. However, the AUC remain in the area with the presence of other divisions.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: A few weeks later, the Catatumbo Bloc also demobilized. This was a milestone in Colombian history, for, with its 1425 mercenaries, the Catatumbo Bloc was one of the most important AUC groups. With them Salvatore Mancuso, the AUC's military leader, turned himself in. A few days later, the government announced that it would not make Mancuso's extradition effective as long as he avoided criminal activities and fulfilled his commitments to the peace process.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Both of these massive demobilizations of AUC groups are an apparent improvement over the first one in 2003 in Medellín because on this occasion important leaders turned themselves in and the weapons presented were assault rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers and rockets, rather than the homemade shotguns and old, malfunctioning revolvers that were turned in the first demobilization. The AUC was supposed to have demobilized completely by 2006 but successor organizations continued to operate such as the neo-paramilitary alliance BACRIM ('bandas criminales emergentes'). .


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Many Colombian and international observers are skeptical about the demobilization's prospects and see multiple causes for criticism. A concern shared by a high number of critics, both inside and outside the country, is that the demobilization process, if it does not provide a legal framework that contemplates the proper doses of truth, reparation and justice, could allow those who have committed human rights violations to possibly enjoy an undue degree of impunity for their crimes. A different kind of concern is held by a few of the supporters of the demobilization process, some of which believe that, without a certain degree of acceptance from the paramilitaries themselves, any unilateral attempts at reducing impunity could stay in writing and not be practically effective.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: A smaller number of the critics have also expressed their fear that the current administration could integrate the AUC into its civilian defence militias or other military structures. Military and government spokesmen have stated multiple times that there is no intention to integrate the AUC into the state's legal security apparatus. While no reports of that occurring have been put forward yet, there have been signs of some individual paramilitaries expressing an interest in wanting to aid local security efforts in areas formerly under their influence and control, in order to prevent possible guerrilla inroads.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The debate on the subject of potential impunity has had a high profile in both the international and Colombian media, with critical views being expressed in "Chicago Tribune "and "New York Times "editorials, in addition to many Colombian outlets. The main argument of several editorials has been that the international community should not help fund the demobilization process until the necessary legal framework to minimize impunity is in place. This position was also echoed by representatives of the international community in a February 2005 donors' conference in Cartagena.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: After many public and private discussions through mid-to-late 2004, in early 2005, a number of congressmen, including Senator Rafael Pardo and Gina Parody (traditionally holding pro-government positions) and Wilson Borja (a former leftwing labor leader who survived a paramilitary assassination attempt back in 2000) among others, independently presented a multiparty draft bill that, according to several observers such as Colombian and international NGOs (including Human Rights Watch), indicates a substantial improvement (compared to the government's previous initiatives) in meeting the necessary conditions of adequately dismantling paramilitarism and reducing impunity. Among these sectors, there is a semblance of a broad consensus in support of this bill.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: Congressional discussion on the subject was set to begin on February 15, 2005, but suffered several delays. The Colombian government's own official draft had apparently gradually incorporated several of the provisions in the Pardo, Parody and Borja proposal, but a number of disagreements remained, which would be the source for further debate on the subject. Other congressmen, including supporters of the government, also begun to present their own draft projects.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: On February 23, the top AUC leaders published an online document on their webpage which stated that they will not submit to a legal framework that, in their own words, would force them to suffer through an undue humiliation that their leftwing guerrilla foes would not contemplate for themselves. They also declared that they are in favor of laws that will allow their fighters to return to civilian and productive lives in a fair, peaceful and equitable manner. In the absence of such conditions, they claimed that the consequence would be the end of the negotiations and their preferring to face the prospect of continuing "war and death". A government communique answered that the AUC should not put pressure on Congress, the media or the Executive on the matter of the legal framework, and that they would have five days to leave the Ralito zone if they chose to quit the talks. The AUC later reduced the tone of its earlier remarks.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: On April 11, an AUC spokesman repeated their claims that the current proposal for amnesty was too harsh primarily because it still allowed extradition for drug charges.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: In the early morning of May 13, 2008, thirteen high-profile paramilitary leaders were taken from their jail cells in a surprise action by the government. According to Interior Minister Carlos Holguín they have been refusing to comply to the country's Peace and Justice Law and were therefore extradited to the United States. Amongst them are Salvatore Mancuso, Don Berna, Jorge 40, Cuco Vanoy and Diego Ruiz Arroyave (cousin of assassinated paramilitary leader Miguel Arroyave). President Uribe said immediately afterwards the United States has agreed to compensate the victims of extradited paramilitary warlords with any international assets they might surrender. The US State Department said the US' courts can also help the victims by sharing information on atrocities with Colombian authorities.


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The National Movement of State Crimes, a coalition of several victim organizations that have suffered from state or paramilitary violence, has asked "to return the paramilitary chiefs to the Colombian authorities so they may be processed by the ordinary justice system and not under the framework of the Law of Justice and Peace, since this framework benefits the victimizers and not the victims, since they have not told all of the truth, have not made comprehensive reparations to the victims, and have not dismantled their criminal structures."


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The Office in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that "[...] according to Colombian law, the reasons claimed by the President of the Republic to proceed with the previously-suspended extraditions are also grounds for their removal from the application of the ‘Law of Justice and Peace’ and for the loss of the benefits established therein".


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights stated that this "affects the Colombian State’s obligation to guarantee victims’ rights to truth, justice, and reparations for the crimes committed by the paramilitary groups. The extradition impedes the investigation and prosecution of such grave crimes through the avenues established by the Justice and Peace Law in Colombia and through the Colombian justice system’s regular criminal procedures. It also closes the door to the possibility that victims can participate directly in the search for truth about crimes committed during the conflict, and limits access to reparations for damages that were caused. This action also interferes with efforts to determine links between agents of the State and these paramilitary leaders."


title: United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

text: After his extradition to the United States, paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso has continued to testify via satellite as part of the Justice and Peace process. On November 18, 2008, "Revista Semana" reported on Mancuso's declarations about the 1997 El Aro massacre, in which he stated that the AUC had received logistical help from the national military and police.


title: Antonov An-72

text: The Antonov An-72 (NATO reporting name: Coaler) is a Soviet/Ukrainian transport aircraft, developed by Antonov. It was designed as an STOL transport and intended as a replacement for the Antonov An-26, but variants have found success as commercial freighters.


title: Antonov An-72

text: The An-72 and the related An-74 get their nickname, "Cheburashka", from the large engine intake ducts, which resemble the oversized ears of the popular Soviet animated character of the same name.


title: Antonov An-72

text: The An-72 first flew on . Produced in tandem with the An-72, the An-74 variant adds the ability to operate in harsh weather conditions in polar regions, because it can be fitted with wheel-skis landing gear, de-icing equipment, and a number of other upgrades, allowing the aircraft to support operations in Arctic or Antarctic environments. Other An-72 versions include the An-72S VIP transport and An-72P maritime patrol aircraft.


title: Antonov An-72

text: Its first flight was made on , but production started in the late 1980s. The powerplant used is the Lotarev D-36 turbofan engine. The An-72 resembles the unsuccessful Boeing YC-14, a prototype design from the early 1970s (design submitted to the United States Air Force in February 1972,) which had also used overwing engines and the Coandă effect.


title: Antonov An-72

text: The rear fuselage of the aircraft has a hinged loading ramp with a rear fairing that slides backwards and up to clear the opening. Up to can be airdropped while it has folding side seats for 52 passengers.


title: Antonov An-72

text: In 2018, six An-72 aircraft were reported to be upgraded for the Russian Aerospace Forces and Navy to carry more fuel and payload for Arctic operations.


title: Antonov An-72

text: The An-72 has STOL capabilities; its take-off roll is and its landing run is . This aircraft was designed to be used on unprepared surfaces; its robust undercarriage and high-flotation tyres allow operations on sand, grass, or other unpaved surfaces.


title: Antonov An-72

text: In August 2006, in total, 51 An-72 and Antonov An-74 aircraft were in airline service. The major operators include Badr Airlines (three), and Shar Ink (eight). Some 17 other airlines operate fewer of the type.


title: Antonov An-72

text: , there have been 24 known accidents and incidents involving the An-72 or An-74; of these, the following involved fatalities:


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The Slovenian Democratic Party (, SDS), formerly the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia (, SDSS), is a conservative political party in Slovenia. It has been described as nationalist and right-wing populist, encompassing both national and social conservatism. Led by former Prime Minister of Slovenia Janez Janša, the SDS is a member of the European People's Party (EPP), Centrist Democrat International and International Democrat Union.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS has its origins in the Slovenian anti-Communist pro-democracy dissident labour union movement of the late 1980s. The Social Democratic Union of Slovenia (later renamed Social Democratic Party and, in 2003, Slovenian Democratic Party) was first headed by trade unionist France Tomšič, then by the prominent Slovenian pro-independence and pro-democracy dissident Jože Pučnik, who resigned in 1993. The party was part of the Democratic Opposition of Slovenia (DEMOS) coalition.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The party's early ideological orientation was liberal, social democratic, and civic nationalist, reflecting a broad and somewhat fragmented coalition. In the 1992 parliamentary elections, SDS barely passed the parliamentary threshold, joining a Liberal Democracy of Slovenia-led coalition government. In 1993, Janez Janša, another prominent pro-democracy dissident turned politician, became party leader (a post he has held continuously since); Janša also served as Minister of Defense between 1990 and 1994. In 1994, Janša was ousted from his ministerial post due to his involvement in the Depala Vas affair; SDS consequently left the coalition government. SDS largely remained in opposition for the following 10 years, gaining in popularity and shifting its ideological outlook rightwards in the meanwhile. In 1995, SDS absorbed the conservative National Democratic Party, a former DEMOS coalition partner.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In 2004, SDS placed first in that year's parliamentary elections, forming a centre-right governing coalition with Janša as PM. The government oversaw the country's entry into the European Union and NATO, and a period of rapid economic growth. The government faced allegations of curtailing media freedom. In the 2008 parliamentary elections, SDS was surpassed by the Social Democrats.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS placed second in the 2011 parliamentary elections but managed to secure support for a SDS-led coalition government, forming the second Janša Cabinet. The government took office in the midst of the European debt crisis, instituting widely disliked austerity reforms which helped spark a series of massive anti-government protests. Opposition to the government was further fueled by corruption allegations against Janša, including his alleged involvement in the Patria affair as well as a 2013 KPK report which found that Janša had violated corruption prevention measures. The SDS-led government collapsed in early 2013 after losing support of coalition partners.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: At the time of the 2014 parliamentary elections, SDS leader Janša was serving a prison sentence for a bribery conviction (which was later overturned by the supreme court and subsequently expired upon re-trial); SDS placed second. SDS won a plurality of votes in the 2018 election, however, most of the other parliamentary parties made pre-election pledges not to join a coalition government with SDS. After the centre-left coalition collapsed in early 2020, two of the parties that had seen a change of leadership since the election reneged on their pre-election pledge, clearing the path for the third Janša Cabinet. The new SDS-led government took office during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, Janša has been described as an illiberal leader.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The Slovenian Democratic Party developed from the merger of two distinct political parties, being the legal successor of both of the Social Democratic Union of Slovenia and the Slovenian Democratic Union, member parties of the Democratic Opposition of Slovenia (DEMOS) which defeated the Communist Party of Slovenia-derived parties in the first democratic Slovenian election in 1990, and carried out the democratization of Slovenia and its secession from Yugoslavia.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The Social Democratic Union of Slovenia had emerged from an independent, anti-Communist trade union movement in the late 1980s. Its first president was the trade union leader France Tomšič, who in December 1987 organized a milestone workers' strike which lead to the establishment of an independent trade union, Neodvisnost, thus following the example of the Solidarity movement in Poland, and, in 1989, the party (which was the first opposition party in the former communist world). Tomšič was replaced as leader by Jože Pučnik later that year while the SDU was renamed as Social Democratic Party of Slovenia (SDS). Pučnik was a former dissident who had been forced to emigrate to Germany as a political exile in the 1960s. Under Pučnik's leadership, The SDU gradually developed into a moderate social-democratic party, which combined the plea for a social market economy with the support of a welfare state based on a German, Austrian and Scandinavian social model.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The Slovenian Democratic Union was founded in January 1989 as opposition to the Communist Party of Slovenia, emphasizing establishment of the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental political freedoms, respect for minority rights, and Euro-Atlantic integration (the European Union and NATO). It functioned as a broad but somewhat fragmented coalition of several groups with different liberal, social-liberal and civic nationalist agendas.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In 1991, after a conflict between the leadership and membership of SDU, the Slovenian Democratic Union split into two parties – the social-liberal wing established the Democratic Party (DSS), while the conservative faction founded the National Democratic Party (NDS). Members who did not join one of these two parties joined the Social Democratic Party led by Jože Pučnik. Although the Social Democratic Party suffered a clear defeat in the 1992 election, barely entering Parliament, it formed a coalition with the winning Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) and entered the cabinet of Janez Drnovšek.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Janša became party leader in 1993 after Jože Pučnik resigned due to health issues (Pučnik later became the honorary president of the party, a function he held until his death in January 2003). In 1995, the National Democratic Party joined SDS, which thus became one of the legal successors of the Slovenian Democratic Union.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Janša served as Minister of Defense from 1990 to 1994. Janša has been accused of having abused his position to consolidate political power, engaging in arms trafficking to arm combatants in the Yugoslav Wars in violation of a United Nations arms embargo, and blackmailing prominent individuals, including politicians, businesspeople, journalists, and cultural and literary figures, by threatening to make public information (to which he was privy to in his ministerial role) regarding their previously undisclosed involvement with the former communist secret police.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In 1994, Janez Janša was dismissed by Prime Minister Janez Drnovšek from his role as Defence Minister because of his involvement in the Depala Vas affair (which centered around an incident in which military personnel arrested and mistreated a civilian off-duty undercover police associate that was attempting to obtain classified documents about the Ministry of Defence). SDS subsequently left the Drnovšek government as a result. The dismissal prompted protests by Janša's supporters and there were founded fears inside the government that Janša, backed by the nascent military, may refuse to relinquish power. A 2003 Mladina article alleged that Slovenia's military's special unit (MORiS) was in 1994 performing military exercises intended to prepare the force to carry out a military coup d'état. The police force was at the same time covertly preparing to secure the state and prevent a military takeover. In a press conference shortly prior to the article's publication, Janša pointed to documents detailing these police plans to secure state institutions to argue that a coup was in fact afoot against his Ministry. In a 1999 interview with Delo, Janša commented on the events of 1994, saying: "I held immense power in my hands. [...] And in 1994, when they were deposing me, there was a lot of suggestions that we not accept this removal. I could have done that. But I didn't." In 1995, Janša was charged for alleged illegal arms trafficking, but the case was never brought to trial.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS remained in opposition for the next 10 years, except for a brief period in 2000, when it entered a short-lived centre-right government led by Andrej Bajuk, while gaining popularity among – as described by one of its former supporters, Peter Jambrek – "lower, frustrated social strata".


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: After the year 2000, the party applied for membership in the European People's Party (EPP), adopting a liberal economic policy and later pro-austerity measures upon the late-2000 economic crisis, while retaining an atlantist foreign policy. The rightward shift culminated in the 2003 name change from Social Democratic Party to Slovenian Democratic party. The party was described as liberal-conservative or conservative-liberal in ideological orientation.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The party's radical populism, nationalistic, and xenophobic attacks was also observed by political analysts. Moreover, the local Slovenian Catholic Church supported it more than any other Slovenian political party. Even though not a nominally Christian party, the local church has stood fully and unconditionally behind it.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: On 3 October 2004, SDS won the 2004 parliamentary election with 29.1% of the popular vote and 29 out of 88 seats. SDS then formed a coalition with New Slovenia (NSi), the Slovenian People's Party (SLS), and Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (DeSUS), holding a total of 49 parliamentary seats (out of 90).


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The SDS-led government passed several pro-business measures, initiated the regionalisation of the country by giving more power to local governments, and, in order to please its coalition party, DeSUS - introduced economically non-sustainable changes in the pension system.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS has been accused of catering to the interests of the Slovenian Roman Catholic Church in exchange for political support. Nevertheless, the Church maintained a critical attitude towards some of the party's positions (the SDS-led Government has assumed a favourable attitude towards gambling tourism, stem cell research and passed a law recognizing same-sex civil unions, all opposed by the Roman Catholic Church).


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The government introduced measures to supervise, and to curtail the powers of the Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency. The measures were strongly rebuked by the opposition and segments of the press as an attempt to discredit the secret intelligence service and cast a negative shadow on the policies of previous governments.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The first SDS government was the target of widespread criticism due to allegations of meddling in the independence of the press. The first SDS government has been accused of politicising the independent press by appointing political allies to leadership and journalist positioned in the state Slovenian Press Agency, daily newspaper Delo, regional newspaper Primorske novice, and public media and broadcasting organisation, RTV Slovenia. The government was accused of using state-owned funds and companies with controlling stakes in newspaper companies to purge critical editors and journalists.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: State-owned companies also ceased purchasing adverts in the daily newspaper Dnevnik and weekly political magazine Mladina, two publications critical of the administration.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: By changing the laws governing the administration of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenia, the government enabled increased political control of the state media organisation's editorial board and its board of directors by increasing the number of board members appointed by the government. The law faced a referendum challenge, but was approved by a tight margin as it also promised to lower compulsory contributions for the broadcaster's funding.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In a secret 2007 deal with the head of the Laško Brewery that owned the flagship national newspaper Delo as subsidiary, PM Janša secured editorial influence over the newspaper while Laško would be allowed to acquire a stake in a state-owned grocery store corporation. A new, government-friendly editor-in-chief was installed despite overwhelming opposition from the newspaper's staff, and nearly a dozen of the newspaper's journalists resigned in protest. The remaining journalists found reporting critically on the government increasingly difficult due to pressure from the new leadership. In 2008, after a souring of relations, the head of Laško accused Janša of threatening him with arrest if he refused to sell the Delo newspaper company.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In 2007, over five hundred journalists launched a petition against political pressures on the media. The petition accused premier Janša of limiting press freedom in particular, but was also more broadly aimed against all infringements of press freedom by either government, political actors in general, or media company owners. The International Press Institute voiced support for the petition and called on the government to create an independent body to investigate the claims of media influence. The Association of European Journalists warned in 2007 of Slovene media companies' boards interfering in journalistic autonomy, reprimanding journalists and fostering other conditions that prevent critical reporting about the government and lead to self-censorship while journalists are also being prevented from covering issues that may go against the interests of the owners. SDS foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel had previously advised media owners to consider thoroughly whether a battle with the government is in their interest.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS rejected accusations of impropriety, claiming the media was in fact controlled by leftist opposition groups.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The first Cabinet of Janez Janša oversaw a period of rapid economic growth. GDP grew by nearly 5% between 2004 and 2006, reaching nearly 7% growth in 2007, making Slovenia the fastest-growing eurozone member for that year. The economic boom, however, was highly dependent on private debt, particularly corporate debt. Additionally, the Janša government failed to implement meaningful structural reforms or accumulate budget surpluses during the period of sustained growth, instead opting for pork barrel politics, reducing tax burdens while engaging in economic populist overspending, making the country particularly susceptible to the coming economic crisis.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Andrej Bajuk, Minister of Finance in Janša's first cabinet, listed the passage of comprehensive tax reform (which included the lowering of corporate taxes and taxes on juridical persons, a reduction of the tax burden on individual incomes, the flattening of income tax margin progression, an increase in tax deductions, and a simplification of the tax code), overseeing the implementation of the Euro and the privatisation of state-owned NKBM bank, and reducing public expenditure as the greatest accomplishments of the ministry during his term (2004–2008).


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: According to Janša, the most prominent economic challenge confronted by his government was a bout of inflation (which occurred during the 2007-08 period and was steepest for foodstuff prices). At the close of 2007, the inflation rate in Slovenia was the highest of any Eurozone member. Janša, Finance Minister Bajuk and other government officials pointed to high oil prices and a non-competitive internal food market as the main underlying causes for the inflation. Janša faced criticism for his statement regarding the issue made during a gathering of regional politicians and businessmen; Janša dismissed concerns regarding rising food prices, saying that "as long as there are loaves of bread in every city dumpster the situation isn't alarming". Economic Development Minister Andrej Vizjak similarly addressed cost of living concerns by saying that citizens "should not be loath to occasionally eat yesterday's bread", going on to say that the food price increases are an opportunity to address the overindulgence of Slovenian consumers.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In the 2008 parliamentary election (held on 21 September 2008) narrowly lost against the Social Democrats, until then the main opposition party. It also lost one seat in Slovenian Parliament, falling to 28.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: With the election of the Social Democrat leader Borut Pahor as Prime Minister of Slovenia, the Slovenian Democratic Party officially declared it would stay in opposition and form a shadow cabinet. The shadow government was formed in late December 2008, and it includes several independent members as well as members from other conservative parties.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In the 2009 European election, the SDS was the most popular party in Slovenia with 26.9% of votes, more than eight points ahead of the second-most popular party, the ruling Social Democrats.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In 2009, the MP Franc Pukšič left the Slovenian Democratic Party and joined the Slovenian People's Party; the SDS parliamentary group was thus reduced from 28 to 27 MPs.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In the 2011 snap parliamentary election (held on 4 December after the centre-left governing coalition collapsed due to internal conflict and inefficacy in passing meaningful economic reforms), SDS won 26.19% of the vote, gaining 26 seats in the National Assembly, thus making SDS the second-largest parliamentary party after the newly formed centre-left party, Positive Slovenia (PS) (headed by Ljubljana mayor Zoran Janković), which won 28 MPs (28.5% of the total). However, SDS succeeded in forming a ruling four-party coalition government (which included the Civic List, New Slovenia, Slovenian People's Party, and Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia) (holding a combined total of 50 out of 90 parliamentary seats) some two months after the election after PS failed to form a coalition with a parliamentary majority. The coalition took power amid an alarming economic downturn (European debt crisis), the worst in the independent country's history. The country's economic woes were further exacerbated by credit agencies' lowering of Slovenia's credit rating amid the political tumult.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The coalition, headed by SDS, undertook drastic economic and financial reforms in an attempt to halt the economic downturn. Finance Minister Janez Šuštaršič pledged to speed up privatisation of state enterprises, cut public spending, and reduce budget shortfalls. Janša additionally pledged to cut taxes, remove regulations, lower the deficit, and raise the retirement age. The coalition passed laws transferring all state-owned enterprises into a single state holding company to accelerate privatisation efforts, and created a bad bank that would take on non-performing loans from the bad debt-ridden state-owned banks. It intended to cut profit and income taxes to boost the economy, and enact constitutional changes demanding balance budgets. It also passed sweeping and highly contentious austerity measures (the Law of Public Finance Balance (Slovene: "Zakon o uravnovešenju javnih financ" ("ZUJF"))), and reportedly planned further cuts to state spending. The "ZUJF" fiscal consolidation law included provisions lowering pensions (widely opposed by the public), cutting wages for public sector employees, reducing education funding, social transfers and benefits. The draft of the law sparked a public sector general strike, and the law faced the possibility of a referendum.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The SDS-led government proved impotent in stemming the economic troubles facing the nation. Despite the momentous reforms efforts, the economic troubles intensified, resulting in increasing levels of unemployment, plunging living standards, a fall in domestic spending, and large budget deficits. The fall in domestic demand, coupled with falling exports, resulted in a double dip recession. A 2016 article alleges that the sharp downturn in Slovenian economic outlook was a result of Janša's overdramatic public statements regarding the economic fitness of the nation. Janša reportedly made such ominous claims for political purposes as means of solidifying political power and as a negotiating strategy to strengthen his hand during negotiations with public sector unions. The PM's eerie pronouncements were taken at face value by foreign observers, however, creating a self-fulfilling feedback loop where gloomy statements made by top Slovene officials created more panic and dismay in the foreign press and various organisations, and vice versa, resulting in falling credit ratings and asset prices, and excessive capital injections/bailouts with funds borrowed at excessively high interest rates.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In late 2012, protests began to take place in Slovenia's second largest city, Maribor, against its mayor and SDS ally, Franc Kangler, who was being investigated due to allegations of corruption. The protests soon picked up momentum and spread across the country, becoming the largest in the independent republic's history. Protestors' main grievances were the harsh austerity measures imposed by the ruling government, looming sale-offs of state enterprises, and allegations of widespread corruption among the ruling elite. The protests also saw the worst violence in the nation's history as an independent state, with small groups of young, violent extremists - likely members of far-right and hooligan groups - clashing with police. In early 2013, the instability and public resentment was compounded after the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption revealed both PM Janez Janša and the leader of the largest opposition party (PS), Zoran Janković, violated anti-corruption laws by failing to report or account for assets in their possession and received income/payments. Janša also faced graft charges even before ascending to the premiership in 2012. He was one of the defendants being tried for corruption as result of a 2006 bribery scandal involving charges of accepting kickbacks to fund his party's electoral campaign. Media reports alleging Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency was "infiltrated" by members of SDS also surfaced. Amid mounting pressure from continuing anti-government protests, a strike of public sector workers, and the lowest public opinion ratings of any government in the nation's history, coalition partners began to depart from the coalition. The government finally collapsed after a vote of no confidence, and a PS consensus candidate, Alenka Bratušek, was appointed as PM (despite some protests that continued to demand a snap election).


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: On 20 March 2013, the second Janša cabinet was replaced by the cabinet of Alenka Bratušek, a four-party centre-left coalition led by the new leader of Positive Slovenia, Alenka Bratušek.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In June 2013, Janša was convicted in the Patria case, but appealed the verdict. In April 2014, the Higher Court upheld the two-year jail sentence passed on Janez Janša as result of the bribery conviction. In June of that year, Janša began serving out his sentence, 26 years after his imprisonment for leaking military secrets as a whistle-blower (his imprisonment, trial, and public reaction were a milestone in the Slovenian path to independence). Despite his imprisonment, Janša stood as candidate for MP.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In the May 2014 European Parliament election, SDS came in first place nationally, garnering 24.78% of the vote, and winning three MEP seats (out of eight allocated for Slovenia).


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The party received 20.69% of the vote in the snap Slovenian parliamentary election held on 13 July 2014, and won 21 seats in parliament. The party remained in opposition, this time to the cabinet of Miro Cerar. Janez Janša was reelected as MP despite being imprisoned. The Constitutional Court decided not to deprive Janša of his MP mandate, and Janša was allowed leave while carrying out his political functions. The Constitutional Court suspended Janša's jail sentence in December, pending the ruling regarding his appeal of the Patria verdict. The Constitutional Court decided to annul the Higher Court's decision in April 2015, returning it to the lower courts for retrial. In September of the same year, the statute of limitations of the Patria case expired.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS representatives expressed the belief that the trial was politically motivated and that the imprisonment of the party frontman unfairly hindered their election efforts, declaring the elections illegitimate and "stolen", and demanded fresh elections. In 2018, SDS sued the state for alleged financial damages the party incurred due to the alleged election "theft", and lost the case.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: With a campaign largely based on anti-immigration populist rhetoric, SDS topped public opinion polls heading into the 2018 parliamentary election. The incendiary electoral campaign sparked a rally under the title "Without Fear — Against the Politics of Hatred", with some 2,000-3,000 heart-shaped balloon-carrying marchers in attendance.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: During the 2018 electoral campaign, SDS also begun to send postable questionnaires ("voter consults") to Slovene households. The questionnaires contained loaded questions and proposals (e.g. "... Do you support SDS's proposal that the healthcare system be set in order?"). The effort was apparently part of the party's electoral campaign, and likely fashioned on Hungarian "national consultations", which the country's ruling party has practiced for years.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS once again emerged as winner in the 3 June 2018 parliamentary election, garnering 24.92% of the vote and winning 25 MP seats. However, the party was unlikely to be able to shore up needed support for a governing coalition, as most parliamentary parties (List of Marjan Šarec, Social Democrats, Modern Centre Party, The Left, Party of Alenka Bratušek, and Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia) had declared that they would not participate in a coalition with SDS. Some two weeks after the 2018 election, Janša again met with Hungarian PM Orbán during a private visit in Budapest. Janša and Orbán also held a conference call with US president Donald Trump during the meeting. Janša stated he would be willing to relinquish his post as PM designate to some other SDS MP such a move would ease tensions and enable SDS to form a coalition government. Despite the concession, the PM post was eventually occupied by the leader of the second largest parliamentary party, Marjan Šarec, who succeeded in forming a centre-left minority government (without the participation of SDS).


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: After the 2018 parliamentary election, SDS failed to regain its traditionally strong showing of support in opinion polls which had been typical for the party while in opposition. Speaking to the media regarding the faltering performance, SDS officials blamed the government's alleged populist economic policies and a disproportionately hostile news media, while independent political analysts pointed to the big tent populist appeal of the ruling LMŠ party and its leader that attracted some traditionally conservative voters, and the momentous changes in the political environment and nature of SDS .


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In early 2020, the resignation of the finance minister due to intra-government disagreements regarding the crafting of a health insurance reform bill precipitated the resignation of PM Šarec, who called for an early election. SDS was however able to secure support for the formation of a new SDS-led government by forming a coalition with New Slovenia, Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (DeSUS), and Modern Centre Party (SMC). While all three parties had expressed clear opposition to a formation of a Janša-led government in the past, all had since experienced changes of leadership that was more amenable to such an arrangement. The news that SMC would be entering into a coalition with Janša resulted in the departure of the party's founder and first head, Miro Cerar, after whom the party was initially named ("Miro Cerar Party").


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Janša was confirmed as PM on 13 March 2020. The coalition agreement signed between the 4 parties stipulated, among other things: the re-introduction of the draft and 6 months of mandatory military service, utilisation of private healthcare providers to reduce waiting times, an increase in public and private healthcare funds, promote apprenticeships in vocational school, a commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050, decentralisation, decreasing public spending, an increase in funds for municipalities, tax reductions for performance pay, an increase in pensions, and an introduction of a universal child benefit instead of an income-based one.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In April 2022, liberal opposition, The Freedom Movement, won the parliamentary election. The Freedom Movement won 34.5% of the vote, compared with 23.6% for Slovenian Democratic Party. On 25 May 2022, Slovenia’s parliament voted to appoint the leader of Freedom Movement, Robert Golob, as the new Prime Minister of Slovenia to succeed Janez Janša.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Originally a centre-left to centre-right political party, SDS gradually drifted rightward, eventually becoming a right-wing party.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Janša has been described as an illiberal leader. Commenting on the question of illiberal democracies like those in Hungary and Poland, Janša stated: "For me, all of these mainstream political orientations are equal, and equally legitimate. [...] I cannot agree to the division between liberal and illiberal democracy. Democracy is democracy [...] If I fight for the affection of my voters, in a free world, everyone is equal."


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Deutsche Welle has described supporters of the party as "disagree[ing] with the majority of the population on more or less everything, starting with the history of World War II, where they cherish the memory of the German-allied wartime military guard."


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: During the European migrant crisis, SDS sharply intensified its nationalist populist rhetoric. The party came out in opposition of migrant quotas and advocated diverting financial resources from non-governmental organisations to security spending. Janša also lambasted the "degenerate left". The party's heated rhetoric and allegations of corrupt practices have led "to concerns among international observers about the direction of Slovenia, which is generally regarded as a regional success story" as SDS topped opinion polls heading into the 2018 parliamentary election.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The party has co-opted former US President Donald Trump's populist rhetoric, with Janša and the party echoing Trump's catchphrases "drain the swamp", "deep state", and "fake news". The party has also proposed requiring that for each new regulation, two existing regulations must be repealed, a proposal notably advocated for and enacted by Trump. Janša has also used the phrase "Slovenia first" on multiple occasions. Janša's rhetoric has been described as "Trumpian".


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The party periodically sends questionnaire mailers to Slovene households. The so-called "Consultations with Voters" ask recipients to fill out answers to highly suggestive questions and enter their personal information to be eligible to receive various prizes.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS has been described as broadly pro-market, and its economic policies have been characterised as neoliberal. SDS advocates for lower taxes and speeding up privatisation efforts.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS introduced legislation allowing for same-sex civil unions while in government, but has opposed recognition of same-sex marriages. PM Janša was one of the few EU leaders to explicitly back the Hungarian government's right to prohibit the portrayal of LGBT persons and topics in mass media which could be seen by children.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS advocates for the introduction of educational programs that would introduce "patriotic education from kindergarten through high school". The party holds that all expenses of compulsory curricular programs in private schools should be bourne by the state.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Janša has expressed strong support for the re-instatement of mandatory military service for males with service lasting at least 6 months (with an option of 12 months of civil service for conscientious objectors).


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In early 2016, SDS proposed the establishment of a national guard composed of some 25,000 "patriotic" volunteers. The guard would replace all current reserve formations of the Slovene armed forces, would be under direct command of the general staff, and would be mobilised during natural disasters or during "altered national security states" (like the European refugee crisis, which was ongoing at the time). Both sexes could enlist. MP Žan Mahnič stated the establishment of the formation was a priority of the party's electoral platform. The proposal was prompted by worsening global national security prospects, in part due to the "migrant crisis", an SDS representative claimed. Government representatives argued that such a formation is unnecessary as the current reserve formations are sufficient.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: During the first SDS government, PM Janša presented climate change as the major political and societal challenge of the era. In 2007, Janša stated that "climate change is not only a problem for the government and economy; it is a challenge for the wider society and every individual" during an international conference on the matter, stressing the dangers and opportunities associated with the issue. He called on the EU to lead the efforts to combat climate change. In 2008, Janša described an EU legislative package on energy and climate change as "one of the most important ... of the beginning of the 21st century", and as one of the priorities of Slovenia during its EU Council Presidency. In 2008, SDS MEP Romana Jordan Cizelj stated that "counteracting climate change is not an individual choice, but a global challenge requiring the effort of the society as a whole. [...] The data reveal changes in ecosystems due to antropogenic emissions and possible trends in the future. [...] It is still possible to act. But we must act decisively, swiftly, and in unison. First in coordination within the EU, and then in the global sense."


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: By 2018, the party seemed to have reversed its position on the issue, with MP Branko Grims prominently making multiple public statements, including in media statements and parliamentary discussions, that outright denied the existence of anthropogenic climate change. Grims has said that "the talk about the warming of the Earth is a big lie", that the Earth is in fact cooling, that climate change is being used as an excuse for allowing mass migrations and the expropriation of taxpayer funds (that are then embezzled by academics, the "eco-industry" and leftist lobbies), and that the political left is using the issue to exploit the youth. Grims has appealed to his background as a geologist to present himself as authoritative on the issue. Grims also controversially claimed that the black panther, which is ostensibly represented in the Carantanian panther sigil that has been adopted as the alternate Slovenian national symbol by some modern-era conservative political groups, was native to the Slovene region but became extinct due to global cooling during the Carantanian era (the claim was dismissed by experts who said the black panther had not been endemic to the region since at least the last ice age). In November 2019, Janša, discussing climate change, stated: "Times are different now, generations are growing up with an awareness that the environment is a value. Of course, some on the left scene, pervaded by cultural Marxism, have swiftly added catastrophic proclamations which are supposed to be caused by climate change. It is being preached how climate change is exclusively man-made, which is entirely unproven. Climate change has been occurring throughout the history of this planet and will continue to. To what extent we are influencing this is a big question. It is a fact that we are. It is a fact that environmental pollution of course in part affects the climate. But I think that it affects it much less than changes on the Sun, or, that is, things which humans cannot influence. This must be understood and it should not be made into ideology and the fame of new Molochs such as Greta."


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS has long advocated for a change in the Slovene parliamentary electoral system, namely the shift from the current proportional electoral system to two-round plurality voting. SDS argues this would result in more stable and effective governments.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS supports citizens' "legal right to bear arms", and has come out in opposition to further restrictions. It strongly opposed new EU regulation of firearms which the European Commission moved to pass after the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. SDS has backed legislation to loosen controls on civilian possession of firearms, firearm accessories, and other weapons.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS supports legalising the medicinal use of cannabis, but opposes legalisation of its recreational use.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS argues the current text to the Slovene national anthem—the 7th stanza of France Prešeren's A Toast ("Blessed be all nations/Which yearn to see the light of day/When where'er the Sun doth wander/The lands' strife shall be cast away/And when free every kinsman will be/Not fiends, only neighbours in foreigners we'll see!")—is "too internationalistic, and insufficiently patriotic", and advocates other stanzas from Prešeren's poem be added as text to the official anthem.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The party advocates a ban on "all public expression of ideas through the use of totalitarian symbols" and "all public displays of affection for totalitarian regimes". The party has denied accusations that it is merely attempting to outlaw the red star, which was the symbol of the Slovene Partisans during WWII, and is still often used in the Slovenian public sphere, including as a symbol/logo of a parliamentary political party. The proposed law would not, on the other hand, ban wearing Nazi uniforms in public or displaying symbols associated with the Nazi-aligned anti-Partisan Slovene Home Guard.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The party is pro-European, but staunchly anti-immigration and strongly opposed to EU asylum quotas. The party is committed to Slovenia's continuing membership in NATO.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Following the US targeted killing of Iranian gen. Qasem Soleimani, the party released a statement declaring that "SDS supports the strong US response to the provocations of the Ayatollah extremist regime ... ."


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Janša has expressed steadfast support for Israel and former Israeli PM Netanyahu and his government. During the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, the SDS-led Slovenian government flew an Israeli flag on the ediface of the building housing the Slovene government as a show of support and solidarity with Israel. PM Janša has described criticism of Israel's policies towards Palestinians as tantamount to antisemitism.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: After taking over the European Council presidency in 2021, the third Janša government chose confronting violent left-wing extremism and anarchism at the EU level as one of its proposed policy priorities.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The central tenet of the party's view regarding the country's political situation is that a clique composed mostly of former Communist Party officials and associates has retained significant control over the economic, financial, political, social, judicial, and journalistic aspects of Slovenian public life. SDS has accused the post-communist underground of undermining SDS-led governments and lamented that "Slovenia is the only former communist country that has not implemented the lustration." In 2021, PM Janša addressed an official missive to the European Commission, calling on the European Union to launch an official inquiry into the "problem ... [of] Slovenia's communist legacy" that is ostensibly endangering "the state of democracy in Slovenia", and to aid the Slovenian government in remedying the situation. SDS's emphasis on the role of former Yugoslav communist party affiliates in Slovene political and public life has been criticised as hypocritical since many SDS politicians were also active within the former Yugoslav communist regime.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In a 2021 draft party resolution, SDS warned that the country's democratic order is under threat from leftist extremist forces at home and abroad, claiming that the country may be on the verge of a coup, civil war, and an establishment of a totalitarian government. The document claims that the goal of the entrenched elites has progressed beyond attempting to eliminate Janša and SDS, to attempting to institute a new communist order in the country. The document also calls for the banning of the allegedly unconstitutional party The Left (citing a fake "secret manifesto" of the party), and concludes by affirming the party's commitment to prevent, by any means necessary, "the establishment of an eco-socialist system ... totalitarian system". Shortly after releasing the party document, SDS requested a parliamentary session to be held to discuss the ostensible unconstitutional conduct of The Left party and pass a resolution calling on "all state organs to intensify their monitoring, investigations, and prevention of attempts to overthrow parliamentary democracy and other constitutional foundations" due to The Left party's policies, and inviting the ministers of interior and defense as well as the chief of national intelligence to participate in the session. The speaker of parliament refused to hold the session after ascertaining that the issue was under the purview of the judicial branch.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS members and affiliates frequently employ particular phrases and concepts to represent their world-view, most notably:


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: As of 2013, SDS membership numbered some 30,000 strong, more than any other political party in Slovenia. Slovenian Democratic Youth (, SDM) is the independent and autonomous youth wing of the party.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The party is affiliated with the Jože Pučnik Institute, the major liberal-conservative think tank in Slovenia. It is also closely affiliated with the civic platform Rally for the Republic ().


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Committee 2014 (Slovene: "Odbor 2014") is a civic organisation that was established to protest and demand the overturn of the corruption convictions in the Patria case, the freeing of SDS leader Janez Janša from prison (sentence resuling from the conviction), and the "actual implementation of the rule of law, human rights, basic freedoms, and establishment of a democratic society". Committee 2014 held regular protests in front of the Higher Court building in Ljubljana.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The Alliance for the Values of Slovene Independence (Slovene: "Združenje za vrednote Slovenske osamosvojitve", VSO) is a patriotic veteran non-governmental organisation intended to commemorate the values of the Slovenian independence movement. VSO leadership consists of prominent SDS members and associates. The organisation holds public speaking events, commemorations, and is engaged in other activities as well.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The party is supported by and closely affiliated with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (Fidesz). SDS's committed backing of Fidesz has reportedly been the decisive factor in preventing Fidesz's expulsion from the European People's Party, resulting in a more lenient suspension. In a letter to the EPP leader, Janša warned of an "inevitable" split in the EPP if the vote to expel Fidesz were to take place. The 3rd Janša government began reorienting Slovenia's foreign alliances away from core EU countries and towards the Visegrád Group of countries, with Janša calling the countries "our friends in the region".


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS politicians have participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program, and with the International Republican Institute.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS is also affiliated with several current and past publications, including its de facto party publication, Demokracija, and tabloid Škandal24 (both owned by "Nova Obzorja" (English: "New Horizons") publishing company, which is in turn jointly owned by SDS and a Hungarian publishing company with close ties to Hungary's ruling party, Fidesz). The publishing company has profited from providing literature to, and advising the SDS parliamentary group/SDS MPs (activities for which parliamentary groups receive state funds), and has also benefited financially from doing business with government agencies, which were particularly bountiful while SDS was in government. Nova24TV, a media conglomerate consisting of a television channel and online news portal, was established by SDS MPs and members, and party sympathisers, and later also received financial injections from Hungarian Fidesz-affiliated companies. Additionally, the SDS-friendly political web portal Politikis is also owned and managed by a close SDS associate. Slovenski tednik and Ekspres, free newspapers distributed in the run-up to the 2008 parliamentary election, were also later found to have been directly linked to SDS and its electoral efforts. As with Slovenski tednik and Ekspres, Škandal24 announced it will cease print publication the day after the 2018 parliamentary election, only continuing as an online publication. In late 2017, an array of over a dozen local/regional web news portals with a common template was also set up, with editors of all linked to SDS based on publicly available information. The websites mostly contained informative content, publishing local news with occasional articles that promoted SDS' candidates and narrative/agenda subtly mixed in. The sites may have been set up primarily as a political propaganda effort in anticipation of the 2018 Slovenian local elections.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The party enjoys strong support in some Slovene conservative and classical liberal intellectual circles. Public figures who have publicly voiced support for SDS or affiliated themselves with the party include economist Ljubo Sirc (joined the party in 2010), philosopher Ivan Urbančič, historians Vasko Simoniti and Alenka Puhar, writer and essayist Drago Jančar, theologian and philosopher Janez Juhant, and poet Tone Kuntner. Public supporters of the party also include sportsmen Miran Pavlin, and Katja Koren, pop singer Marta Zore, designer and cartoonist Miki Muster, and actor Roman Končar.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In 2008, SDS was found to have falsely attributed "supporter status" to many prominent Slovenes on its webpage. The party sent a request to comment on the ruling government for its party newspaper to numerous notable public figures. Though they were never asked whether they support the party or informed they will be listed as supporters, SDS nevertheless listed them as such.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Many prominent members have abandoned SDS due to the radicalisation of the party's ideology and disagreements over leadership style. Some also established new political parties. Most former members politically transitioned towards the centre, with a minority outflanking SDS on the far right. Former public supporters include: sportsman Miran Pavlin.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Former supporters or affiliated individuals that have since come out as critics of the party include: one of the fathers of the current Slovenian Constitution Peter Jambrek, the former chairman of Rally for the Republic and Civic List party leader Gregor Virant, and liberal economist Jože P. Damijan, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitrij Rupel, former Minister of Internal Affairs Dragutin Mate, and Minister of Education Žiga Turk, former MEP Romana Jordan Cizelj, former SDS MPs Andrej Čuš, and Ivo Hvalica, and "mother of the party" Vera Ban. Miha Brejc became "persona non grata" after his son-in-law Gregor Virant distanced himself from Janša and established the Civic List.