Although Tonin of the NSi said he was "looking forward to a public debate" on the bill, the NSi filed a request for an emergency session of the parliamentary Defence Committee to be held on Thursday.

This means that "the NSi and Tonin are giving the public less than five days for a public debate on the largest purchase of weapons and the biggest investment of this government," Left coordinator Luka Mesec told the press today.

He warned that by rushing with the bill and passing it away from the public eye, Tonin and the NSi were opening the door to non-transparency and corruption, for which they would be held responsible.

The Left proposed to the National Assembly earlier this week to call a consultative referendum on the EUR 780 million in defence expenditure planned for the coming six years. The party argues that money that would suffice to build several infection clinics, "170 care homes or 100,000 flats for the young" will instead be spent on an imaginary enemy.

The National Assembly endorsed the bill on the EUR 780 million investment at first reading in mid-July. The bill envisages investment in the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) between 2021 in 2026, the bulk for the acquisition of armoured personnel vehicles to set up a battalion battlegroup, plus an aircraft and two helicopters.