Unwanted? Media and Political Constructions of Foreigners in Slovenia

Through a discursive analysis approach the author researches how the press and the political representatives in the Slovenian parliament reacted to the arrival of foreigners (“illegal” immigrants) in the period of the so called immigration crisis in 2000 to 2001. The author comes to the conclusion that the media discourse and the political discourse of the time established a series of discriminatory discursive practices, where the dominant thesis was one in which slovenianhood was threatened, and this in turn led to an institutional political action, with a legitimation of changes in legislation towards lowering the standards of the treatment of immigrants, especially asylum seekers.
KEY WORDS: foreigners, nationalism, attitudes towards immigrants in Slovenia