Slovenia plans to substantially raise defence spending to hit NATO's 2% of GDP target by the end of 2025, five years ahead of schedule, with a combination of higher outlays for the armed forces and by designating some existing expenditure on dual-use investments as defence spending.

Spending will increase by 0.2 percentage points per year after 2025 until it hits 3% of GDP in 2030 "and remain at this level until the end of the long-term development period," according to a new defence and security policy resolution unveiled on 8 May.

The blueprint has five pillars: higher spending on the armed forces; strengthening domestic defence industry; dual-use infrastructure; civilian-military health capabilities; and R&D, space technologies and cybersecurity.

"The government believes that security is not ensured only by purchasing weapons, but above all by involving as many people as possible in the defence, security and resilience system," Prime Minister Robert Golob added.

In practice, this means that "we will designate the funds that are already being allocated for certain infrastructure and other defence purposes as defence spending," he said.

Roads, hospitals and tech

Much of the spending increase will come from designating 30% of some investments in roads that have the status of NATO transport as defence spending. This year alone, this would mean extra spending of €221 million, equivalent to about a fifth of the existing defence budget.

If the state is improving military mobility through infrastructure projects, it is "completely logical" that it shows part of the funds for the construction or renovation of infrastructure as the cost for greater resilience, Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek said.

Similar rules will apply to some hospital infrastructure, notably a new national medical centre for emergencies that is under development at the Peter Držaj Hospital in Ljubljana.

"Additional dual-use infrastructure ensures greater resilience of the healthcare system in the event of military conflicts and natural disasters, while being used on a daily basis to improve all healthcare services," Health Minister Valentina Prevolnik Rupel said.

Spending on technology such as satellites and on cybersecurity will likewise count towards the total. For example, Slovenia is aiming to have a constellation of seven satellites that can serve dual civilian and military purposes, according to Igor Papič, the minister of higher education and science.

New target on horizon

Slovenia has long been criticised for not spending enough on defence and has been at the tail end of NATO's spending rankings. Last year it spent 1.37% of GDP on defence according to official NATO figures, just marginally more than in the years before. It was one of ten members not to hit the 2% target.

Slovenian officials have spent the last several months preparing ground for the spending hike, careful to emphasise that this will not crowd out other types of spending such as welfare payments.

However, it remains unclear whether the fresh commitment will be enough given that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has suggested 3% or even 3.5% should be the new target, after European members of NATO came under pressure from the United States to substantially increase spending.

The new target is expected to be agreed at the next NATO summit in June. Media reports suggest a portion of the increase would be achieved by including a broader category of security-related spending, such as upgrading roads and bridges to support heavy military vehicles, civil defence, and cyber measures. But this is yet to be agreed and it could affect how the Slovenian plan pans out.