Tens of thousands joined a demonstration on Saturday called by Slovenia’s main unions amid Europe-wide rallies this week to protest government austerity measures to tackle the economic crisis.
Over 30,000 people gathered on Ljubljana’s central square Kongresni trg, according to organisers of the protest, which was backed by the Alliance of Slovenian Independent Unions (ZSSS) and the public sector union, as well as by student and pensioner organisations.
Demonstrators arrived by bus from all over Slovenia wearing blue and red plastic vests with the names of their unions, and carrying banners with anti-government slogans.
“We want to live, not survive”, “Austerity policy = recession” and “The government is losing its mind, Slovenia its youth”, read some of the banners.
ZSSS head Dusan Semolic opened the rally by saying: “Social rights, wages, pensions or scholarships are not to blame for the current crisis, it was greedy capitalism that caused it.”
Government measures “should meet the worker’s interests and not the interests of Brussels’s financial institutions,” he added.
Saturday’s protest followed a series of anti-austerity actions and strikes earlier this week in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece.
On Friday, Slovenia’s labour minister Andrej Vizjak said people’s dissatisfaction was understandable and justified, but warned that austerity measures were necessary.
“Those who protest against austerity measures do not have any realistic and possible alternative scenarios,” he warned.
Eurozone-member Slovenia, which joined the EU in 2004 and adopted the euro currency in 2007, is in the throes of one of the deepest downturns in the eurozone, with the European Commission predicting the country’s output will shrink a painful 2.3 percent this year and 1.6 percent in 2013.
Large volumes of bad loans at Slovenia’s banks have also raised fears the small country may become the latest in the 17-nation eurozone to need outside help.
Shortly after coming to power in February, Prime Minister Janez Jansa’s centre-right government adopted a package of austerity measures that included an 8.0-percent public sector wage cut and lower welfare for pensioners and social aid recipients.
But new measures for the recovery of the banking system and state-controlled companies have been blocked by unions and the opposition.
Saturday’s protest in Ljubljana ended after about two hours, without any major incidents.
30,000 Slovenians protest austerity measures: organisers
