We—specialists in Central and South East Europe and others interested in the culture and politics of the region—wish to register our concern about the increasingly heavy hand that the current government of the Republic of Slovenia under Prime Minister Janez Janša wields over the autonomy of scholars and academics in Slovenia. We are prompted by our sincere fear that academic freedom – one of the core values of the European Union and of democracy – is under threat.

We wish to draw attention to some of his government’s domestic policies, especially its attempt to take control of important cultural and academic institutions. Since Janša became Prime Minister in March 2020, the Slovene government has refused to reappoint several museum directors and one director of a research institute. We find no grounds for their de facto dismissal given their track records in office: these are individuals who have effectively and successfully managed their institutions and formed important international partnerships with similar institutions abroad. The Prime Minister’s chief concern seems to be their failure to submit entirely to his government’s political agenda; their replacements were individuals with lesser professional credentials, and the appointment of the new director of the National Museum of Slovenia directly contradicts the International Council of Museums’ Code of Ethics. The frequency of such interventions and the many clear signals that more are to come further prove that these are not normal personnel decisions, but rather the first steps in an attempt to curtail the independence of scholars and to place narratives about the past under government control. In an open and pluralist society, such as Slovenia professes to be, scholars and professionals must be allowed to work without this kind of political and governmental interference.

The recently announced plan to establish a new Museum of Slovene Independence further suggests that what we are observing is an attempt to control an entire scholarly field. As a November 15 press release makes clear, the government considers this museum an opportunity to showcase the ‘sacrifices of our forefathers, who died for independent statehood during the centuries of foreign rule’. Such statements, which contradict everything modern scholarship has taught us about the Slovene past, demonstrate that the new museum would be nothing but a propaganda institution, promoting a nationalist narrative about the past, one aimed at buttressing the ideological agenda of the Prime Minister and his Slovene Democratic Party.

Such manoeuvring is not unprecedented. We have observed similar—and largely successful—attempts in some other European countries. The would-be-authoritarian governments in Poland, Hungary, but also in Russia have all used similar tactics as they tried and often succeeded in controlling and disciplining civil society and academia. Unrestrained nationalism, anti-Semitic tropes, xenophobia, and a disregard for democratic norms have become part and parcel of the current Prime Minister’s modus operandi.

While we do not question the Prime Minister’s and his government’s right to their personal opinions, we also do not question the legitimacy of differing views of the history of Slovenia. But we do condemn government attempts to impose politically motivated interpretations, make them binding, thus, stifling academic freedom. We call for the Prime Minister and the government to guarantee the free and open exchange of ideas in academia and museums that is both a hallmark and a pillar of democratic, civil society. We also ask that his partners in the European People’s Party group of the European Parliament publicly call on the Slovene government to explain its recent actions and to ensure that academic and professional freedom will be protected in Slovenia.

1. Hugh L. Agnew, Professor of History and International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
2. Aleida Assmann, Professor, University of Konstanz, Germany
3. Jan Assmann, Professor, University of Heidelberg, Germany
4. Christian Axboe Nielsen, Associate Professor of History and Human Security, Aarhus University, Denmark
5. Balasz Apor, Associate Professor of European History, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
6. Gruia Badescu, Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, University of Konstanz, Germany
7. Pamela Ballinger, Fred Cuny Chair in the History of Human Rights, Department of History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
8. Dimitar Bechev, Europe’s Future Fellow, Institute of Human Sciences, Vienna, Austria
9. Orel Beilinson, Doctoral Candidate, Department of History, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
10. Dion van den Berg, Team leader of Europe of PAX, Utrecht, Netherlands
11. Carl Bethke, PhD, University Leipzig, Germany
12. Florian Bieber, Professor of South East European History and Politics; Director of the Center for South East European Studies, University of Graz, Austria
13. Julie Biro, Documentary filmmaker, Paris, France
14. Muriel Blaive, Ph.D., Historian, IFK, Vienna, Austria
15. Etienne Boisserie, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Central European History, Inalco, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France
16. Melissa Bokovoy, Professor of History and Regents’ Lecturer in Arts and Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
17. Marco Bresciani, Research Fellow, Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Florence, Italy
18. Ulf Brunnbauer, Professor, Director of the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg, Germany
19. Cathie Carmichael, Professor of European History, University of East Anglia, UK
20. Holly Case, Professor of History, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
21. Doina Anca Cretu, Ph.D., Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
22. Patrice Dabrowski, Ph.D., Independent Scholar and Editor, H-Poland, Boston, MA, USA
23. Laura Lee Downs, Professor of Gender and Sexuality, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
24. Gábor Egry, Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Director, Institute of Political History, Budapest, Hungary
25. Rosemary Feurer, Associate Professor of History and Public Historian, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL; Director, Mother Jones Museum and Heritage Project, USA
26. Michal Frankl, Ph.D., Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
27. Lejla Gačanica, Independent Researcher, Bosnia and Herzegovina
28. Emily Gioielli, Ph.D., Fellow, Imre Kertész Kolleg Jena, Germany
29. Rainer Gries, Director of the Franz Vranitzky Chair for European Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria
30. Dominika Gruziel, European Research Council Fellow, European University Institute, Italy
31. Jordi Guixé, Associate Professor, Department of Arts and Public Space and Director of European Observatory on Memories, University of Barcelona, Spain
32. Dagmar Hájková, Ph.D., Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
33. Carol Harrington, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
34. Edin Hajdarpašić, Associate Professor of History, Loyola University, Chicago, USA
35. Elma Hasimbegović, Director of the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
36. Jiří Hutečka, Associate Professor of History, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
37. Trude Jacobsen, Professor of History, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
38. Pieter M. Judson, Professor of 19th and 20th Century History, European University Institute Florence, Italy
39. Thede Kahl, Head of the Institute of South Slavic Studies at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany,
40. Tomasz Kamusella, FRHistS, Reader in Modern History, School of History, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK
41. Karl Kaser, Professor for Southeast European History and Anthropology, University of Graz, Austria
42. Dominique Kirchner Reill, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of Miami, Florida, USA
43. Axel Klausmeier, Director of the Berlin Wall Foundation, Germany
44. Victoria Kothrade, Executive Director, Thomas Edison House – Historic Homes Foundation of Louisville, KY USA
45. Gregor Kranjc, Associate Professor, Brock University, Canada
46. Jasmina Lazović, Cofounder and program associate, Center for Public History, Belgrade, Serbia
47. Paul Lerner, Professor of History, University of Southern California, USA
48. Cybele Locke, Senior Lecturer in History, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
49. Thomas Lutz, Head of Memorial Museums Department, Topography of Terror Foundation Berlin, Germany
50. Siniša Malešević, Full Professor of Sociology, Director of Research, School of Sociology, University College Dublin, Ireland
51. Jill Massino, Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, USA
52. Alexander Maxwell, Associate Professor of History, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
53. Léontine Meijer-van Mensch, Director of the State Ethnographical Collections in Leipzig, Dresden and Herrnhut, Germany
54. Peter van Mensch, Independent Museologist, Leipzig, Germany
55. Nicolas Moll, Historian and Intercultural Trainer, Crossborder Factory, Sarajevo/Paris, Bosnia and Hercegovina/France
56. Marco Mondini, Professor of History of Conflicts, University of Padua, Italy
57. Dietmar Müller, Senior Researcher at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) and member of the Scientific Board of üdosteuropa Gesellschaft, Germany
58. John Paul Newman, Associate Professor of European History, Maynooth University, Maynooth, President of the Irish Association of Russian, Central and East European Studies, Ireland
59. Brigitte Le Normand, Associate Professor of History and Director, Public Humanities Hub – Okanagan, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Canada
60. John O’Brennan, Jean Monnet Chair in European integration and Director of the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies, Maynooth, Ireland
61. Vjeran Pavlaković, Associate Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, University of Rijeka, Croatia
62. Wolfgang Petritsch, Ambassador ret., former EU Special Envoy for Kosovo, former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria
63. Milovan Pissari, Centre for Public History Belgrade, Serbia
64. Christian Promitzer, Ph. D., Institute for History, Section of Southeast European History and Anthropology, University of Graz, Austria
65. Iris Rachamimov, Professor, Department of History, Tel Aviv University, Israel
66. Aviel Roshwald, Professor of History, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
67. Sabine Rutar, Research Associate, Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg, Germany
68. Günter Schlusche, Architect / urban planner, Coordinator for planning and construction at the Berlin Wall Foundation, Germany
69. Steven Seegel, Professor of History, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, USA
70. Tamara Smidling, Centre for Public History Belgrade, Serbia
71. Christope Solioz, Secretary General, Multiplex Approach (MAP) Nomad Think Tank, Geneva, Switzerland
72. Richard Steigmann-Gall, Associate Professor of History, Kent State University, OH, USA
73. Marijana Stojčić, Centre for Public History Belgrade, Serbia
74. Anika Walke, Associate Professor of History, Washington University in St. Louis, USA
75. Yiyan Wang, Professor of Chinese, School of Languages and Cultures, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
76. Markus Wien, Professor, Department of History and Civilizations, American University in Bulgaria; President, Bulgarian Studies Association, Sofia, Bulgaria
77. Nancy M. Wingfield, Presidential Research Professor Emerita, Northern Illinois University, USA
78. Lili Zach, Ph.D., Associate Member of the Maynooth University Arts and Humanities Institute, Maynooth, Ireland
79. Tara Zahra, Homer J. Livingston Professor of East European History and the College, University of Chicago, Illinois, USA
80. Marco Abram, PhD, Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa, Italy
81. Wilson Bell, Associate Professor, Thompson Rivers University, Canada
82. Simone Attilio Bellezza, Assistant Professor of Modern History, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
83. Giovanni Bernardini, PhD, University of Verona, Italy
84. Jochen Boehler, PD Dr., Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
85. Katherine Bowers, Associate Professor of Slavic Studies, Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies, University of British Columbia, Canada
86. Angela Brintlinger, Director of the Center for Slavic and East European Studies; Professor of Slavic Studies, Ohio State University, USA
87. Chad Bryant, Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
88. Giulia Buscherini, MA in Political Sciences, Italy
89. Marco Buttino, Emeritus Professor of Modern History, University of Turin, Italy
90. Daniela L. Caglioti, Professor of Contemporary History, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
91. Simona Cannalire, , University of Bologna, Italy
92. Francesco Cassata, Professor of Contemporary History, University of Genoa, Italy
93. Luisa Chiodi, PhD, Director, Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa, Italy
94. Mark Cornwall, Professor of Modern European History, University of Southampton, United Kingdom
95. Vanni D’Alessio, Researcher of Modern History, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
96. István Deák, Emeritus Professor History, Columbia University, USA
97. Mario Del Pero, Professor of International History, SciencesPo, Paris, France
98. Theodora Dragostinova, Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University, USA
99. Melissa Feinberg, Professor of History, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA
100. Lorenzo Ferrari, PhD, Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa, Italy
101. Federico Finchelstein, Professor of History, New School, New York, NY USA
102. Monica Fioravanzo, Associate Professor of Contemporary History, University of Padua, Italy
103. Giovanni Focardi, Professore associato, Università di Padova, Italy
104. Filippo Focardi, Full Professor of Contemporary History, Università di Padova, Italy
105. Laurie Franklin, Writer, USA
106. Cathleen Giustino, CLA Endowed Prestigious Research Professor, Auburn University, USA
107. Eagle Glassheim, Professor of History, University of British Columbia, Canada
108. Krista Goff, Assistant Professor of History, University of Miami, USA
109. Paul Gradvohl, Professor of History, Université de Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne, France
110. Andrea Graziosi, Professor of History, University of Naples Federico II and Scuola superiore meridionale, Italy
111. Irina Gridan, Associate Professor of History, Inalco, Paris, France
112. Paul Hanebrink, Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA
113. Yana Hashamova, Professor of Slavic and Film Studies, Chair of the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, Ohio State University, USA
114. Dan Healey, Professor of Modern Russian History, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
115. Maureen Healy, Associate Professor and Chair of History Department, Lewis & Clark College, USA
116. Siobhan Hearne, Postdoctoral Researcher, Durham University, United Kingdom
117. Aleksandar Hemon, Professor, Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University, USA
118. Aida Hozic, Associate Professor, University of Florida, USA
119. Bogdan Cristian Iacob, Researcher, Institute of History in Bucharest, Romania
120. Ilinca Iurascu, Associate Professor of German, University of British Columbia, Canada
121. Tvrtko Jakovina, Tenured professor, University of Zagreb, Croatia
122. Ivan Jeličić, PhD, Institute of Political History, Budapest, Hungary
123. Mary-Allen Johnson, Associate Professor, Ohio State University, USA
124. Tom Junes, PhD, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
125. Dzeneta Karabegovic, PhD, University of Salzburg, Austria
126. Padraic Kenney, Professor of History and Associate Dean, Indiana University, USA
127. Vojtěch Kessler, PhD, Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
128. Audrey Kichelewski, Associate Professor of History, Strasbourg University, France
129. Lisa Kirschenbaum, Professor of History, West Chester University, USA
130. Rebekah Klein-Pejšová, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Director of the Human Rights Program, Purdue University, USA
131. Michal Kšiňan, PhD, Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia
132. Jiří Kubeš, Associate Professor of History and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Pardubice, Czech Republic
133. Rudolf Kučera, Doc., Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
134. Milena Lenderová, Professor, University of Pardubice, Czech Republic
135. Antonis Liakos, Professor Emeritus, University of Athens, Greece
136. Howard Louthan, Professor of History and Director, Center for Austrian Studies, University of Minnesota, USA
137. Anne Madelain, Associate Professor, Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, Paris, France
138. Ervin Malakaj, Assistant Professor of German Studies, University of British Columbia, Canada
139. Antoine Marès, Professeur émérite, histoire de l’Europe centrale contemporaine, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France
140. Malgorzata Mazurek, Associate Professor of Polish Studies, Columbia University, USA
141. Matteo Millan, Associate professor of modern and contemporary history, University of Padova, Italy
142. Pavel Mücke, Senior Researcher/Associated Professor, Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences / Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
143. Jasmin Mujanović, PhD, Sarajevo Calling: A Podcast of Southeast European Affairs
144. Dana Musilová, Professor of History, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
145. Robert Nemes, Professor of History, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY USA
146. Mila Orlić, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Rijeka, Croatia
147. Andrea Orzoff, Associate Professor of History, New Mexico State University, USA
148. Kathrin Pabst, PhD Museum Ethics, Vest-Agder Museum, Kristiansand, Norway
149. Cynthia Paces, Professor of History, The College of New Jersey, USA
150. Luisa Passerini, Professor Emerita, Department of History and Civilisation, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
151. Srdja Pavlovic, PhD, Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies, University of Alberta, Canada
152. Stefano Petrungaro, Associate Professor, History of Eastern Europe, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy
153. Niccolò Pianciola, Associate Professor of History, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
154. Ségolène Plyer, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Université de Strasbourg, France
155. Besnik Pula, Associate Professor of Political Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
156. Joachim von Puttkamer, Prof. Dr., Imre Kertész Kolleg Jena, Germany
157. Immo Rebitschek, Assistant Professor for East European History, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
158. Máté Rigó, Assistant Professor, Yale-NUS College, Singapore
159. Francesca Rolandi, PhD, Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
160. Clemens Ruthner, Assistant Professor and Director of Research, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
161. Lewis Siegelbaum, Jack and Margaret Sweet Professor Emeritus of History, Michigan State University, USA
162. Aline Sierp, Assistant Professor, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
163. Marius Stan, Political Scientist, Research director of the Hannah Arendt Center, University of Bucharest, Romania
164. Ronald Suny, William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History, University of Michigan, USA
165. Oswald Überegger, Director of the Competence Center for Regional History, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
166. Daniel Unowsky, Professor of History, University of Memphis, USA
167. Nadia Urbinati, Professor of Political Theory, Columbia University, USA
168. Martina Urbinati, MA in Interdisciplinary Research and Studies on Eastern Europe, University of Bologna, Italy
169. Jana Vargovcikova, Assistant Professor, Inalco, France
170. Lorenzo Venuti, PhD candidate, University of Florence, Italy
171. László Vörös, PhD, Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia
172. Srdjan Vucetic, Associate Professor, International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada
173. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chancellor’s Professor of History, UC Irvine, USA
174. Julija S. Winikoff, Lecturer, Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand
175. Konstantina Zanou, Assistant Professor of Italian, Columbia University, USA