A report showed that only four member states meet the commitment to allocate 2% of GDP for defence spending and among the 28 members only six saw an increase in defence spending between 2008 and 2013.

Five countries saw a drop of more than 30%, among them Slovenia at 34.3%, Jakič explained for the press.

He agrees with the view, expressed by some other ministers, that the question is not how much is spent but how. Synergies will need to be found and one of them is also the so called Smart Defence and joint use of capacities, Jakič argued.

In Slovenia an increase of spending cannot be expected for now, which is why it is vital that additional ways are found for reallocations within the present defence budget. Jakič is striving to preserve at least the present level of funding, arguing that additional cuts are no longer possible.