Ljubljana - PM Robert Golob's visit to Brussels reaffirmed the shift in Slovenia's foreign policy from the Visegrad Group to the core EU countries, Delo says on Saturday. But supporting this view only at the declarative level is not enough. As a newcomer in the European politics, Golob did a decent job, but his views on key EU topics were not clear enough.

To appear convincing, it takes experience in foreign policy and the width that Golob does not (yet) have, says the paper in its front-page commentary Traps of Heated Debate on War.

One of the reasons why the government's views on Ukraine are incomplete is, however, the polarising debate in the Slovenian civil society and politics about the war.

"We have two opposing calls about how the state should respond to the Russian-Ukrainian war, one promoting peace and the other justice," the paper says, noting this will probably also need to be discussed by the overhauled Foreign Ministry's Strategic Council.

The polarising debate, which this time does not reflect the traditional left-right divide, will also mark the next session of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee at which the former prime minister, Janez Janša, will "defend the legacy of his heroic journey to Kyiv".

"The government will of course have a much harder task, as in the autumn it will have to deal with the discontent of citizens over rising prices of food and energy due to the war. And when war fatigue comes, it will be much more difficult to advocate the moral approach to the war over the pragmatic one."

If Slovenia were a mature country, it would quietly help Ukraine with heavy artillery, which it desperately needs for self-defence, while at the same time loudly look for diplomatic solutions, Delo says.