Some ten people started on Sunday a protest walk from Ljubljana to Koper, staged by the non-parliamentary Active Slovenia party to protest against the planned gas terminals in the Gulf of Trieste.
Prior to the start of the 105-km march, the participants were addressed by President Janez Drnovsek, who wished them that they achieve "the result we are all hoping for - that is no gas terminals".
Drnovsek is moreover convinced that the people's attention needs to be drawn to the planned construction of gas terminals, which he labelled as unnecessary and potentially harmful.
"The public should wake up and show that it cannot be manipulated by people who only see their own interests and profit. We all live in this environment, and the sea also belongs to us," the president added.
The opposition of Active Slovenia as a non-parliamentary party is somewhat different to that in parliament. It is a form of pressure on those who make decisions, that is the politicians, the party's president Franci Kek said.
"The politicians make decisions under the influence of capital, and fortunately also under the influence of voters," added Kek who is convinced that Slovenian government can prevent the construction of gas terminals, given the expected cross-border affects.
The protesters are expected to arrive in Koper on 22 June, when they would also like to stage "a major rally". At first they planned on staging the rally in front of the Bonifica venue, yet, the Bonifica managers denied their request.
According to Kek, they are not welcome in Koper because of Mayor Boris Popovic, who labelled their walk as "a march of clowns". Kek meanwhile stressed that they are a political party with a constitutional right to speak and associate in public.
As he furthermore explained, they expect only a handful of people to attend the march itself, while there should be more protesters in Koper.
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