The annual NATO public opinion survey among member states regarding various aspects of membership in the alliance has shown Slovenia persistently ranking among the countries whose people express the most scepticism towards NATO membership and its policies.

The survey, conducted by NATO in April and May and published on 7 July, reveals that compared to other NATO member states, people of Slovenia feel above average scepticism towards various aspects of membership and NATO's policies in the conflict in Ukraine.

Across all member states, more than half of the respondents said they would vote for their country to remain in the alliance in the event of a referendum on NATO membership. Slovenia had the second lowest share, at 56%, higher only than Bulgaria's.

Compared to the same survey conducted in 2022, the proportion of Slovenians who responded they would vote for their country to remain in NATO decreased by six percentage points, while the percentage of those who would vote for leaving remained at 30%. Moreover, the share of the undecided increased by five percentage points.

Also striking is the finding that only 30% of the respondents in Slovenia expressed full or partial trust in the credibility of Slovenian media reports on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while 67% of Slovenians do not trust the media's coverage of this issue. Finland recorded the highest level of trust in this segment (83%). Only Hungary, Greece, and Bulgaria ranked lower than Slovenia.

Furthermore, only 56% of respondents in Slovenia believe that NATO membership is important for national security, placing Slovenia last in this regard.

Less than half of the Slovenian poll participants believe that Slovenia should defend another NATO member in the event of an attack and that NATO membership reduces the likelihood of an attack on the country. Slovenians are also fairly negatively disposed to increased defence spending.

Compared to 2022, the share of Slovenian respondents supporting higher defence expenditure rose from 22% to 25%, while the share of those who said that less money should be spent on defence decreased from 33% to 26%.

On the other hand, Slovenians remain fairly favourably disposed towards providing further support to Ukraine; however, with 50%, Slovenia still falls significantly below the 64% average for NATO member states.

The NATO survey was conducted between April 17 and May 18, with a total of 30,481 people participating from 31 alliance member countries and the candidate country Sweden. Approximately 1,000 people participated from each member state, while Albania and Montenegro had around 500 participants each.