Slovenia, Ten Years a NATO Member
Perhaps the biggest question raised about NATO is military spending, as a significant portion of the public continue to question the sensibility of spending money on the military considering that Slovenia has been in recession almost uninterruptedly for five years.
However, the military budget has been a prime target of austerity measures. Slovenia's defence spending had gone from 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2004 to 1.6% in 2010, but by 2012 the share dropped to 1.1%, well short of commitments by all NATO members to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence.
As President Borut Pahor, the supreme commander of the armed forces, noted for the STA, the decline in defence spending "seriously undermines our credibility" and risks affecting participation in international missions.
Slovenia is by no means alone, as only the United States (4.4%), Great Britain (2.4%), Greece (2.3%) and Estonia (2%) are in compliance, despite assertions by all member states that the decline of investment in the military is not good.
Defence spending has been been put into sharp focus with the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, as NATO and Russia appear on the verge of a new confrontation. It has also dampened claims by critics that the alliance is an unnecessary relic of the Cold War.
The notion that NATO is a guarantor of stability has never been seriously challenged in Slovenia. Moreover, membership allows the military to develop only selected capabilities while sourcing other services from allies, of which Italian and Hungarian control of Slovenian airspace is the most prominent example.
Additionally, Slovenia has joined the strategic airlift initiative, which allows it to source NATO capabilities for transporting soldiers and equipment to distant operations.
At the same time, NATO offers the Slovenian Armed Forces, and the soldiers, the opportunity to hone their skills at missions across the globe, where they partner with the best equipped armies of the world.
Major General Dobran Božič, the chief of the general staff, said the experience on missions has been "irreplaceable". "NATO membership has opened a new military and security horizon for us."
NATO membership has "accelerated the transformation of defence", Defence Minister Roman Jakič added. The army has been downsized, the command structure optimised, the ratio between soldiers and officers improved, and dual-use capabilities have significantly improved, he said.
The chief of the general staff notes that NATO has been instrumental in transforming the military. Outside NATO the army would have been "less modern, less operational, and more focused on solutions from the past that no longer address contemporary security challenges".
It is a different question altogether whether Slovenia has used the benefits of NATO membership to the maximum extent. In particular, there were big promises about Slovenian firms being able to take part in NATO tenders for services and equipment but very little has come to fruition.
Nevertheless, as Miniser Jakič points out, Slovenia is a beneficiary of NATO's security investments and stands to get EUR 51m for secure communications, airspace control, maritime communications and airport infrastructure.
Moreover, Slovenian officials point out that NATO membership carries weight in international relations and has significantly raised the country's profile on the international scene.
"We've achieved a high level of national security, we share responsibility, we participate in making decisions on security issues and challenges in Europe and beyond. This has given us an appropriate degree of international reputation and influence," President Pahor said.
NATO is underpinned by collective defence, which is enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, though a lot has changed since the Cold War, when the alliance was more than anything a counterbalance to the Warsaw Pact.
Interventions in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya and off the coast of Somalia highlight NATO's ambition, and willingness, to play a bigger role in flashpoints across the globe.
Nevertheless, Pahor highlighted the key role that collective security continues to play. "Slovenia is ready to participate in the defence of any member that is threatened. Based on these commitments, Slovenia would get the same assistance."
Looking ahead, he says NATO will remain an organisation with three key tasks: collective defence, crisis management and cooperative security. "NATO will continue to be irreplaceable for European security."
Similarly, the defence minister sees NATO as a "credible political and military organisation that will be instrumental to the security of the broader Euroatlantic area".
This is also related to NATO's continued expansion in Southeastern Europe, which Slovenia has been a staunch advocate of. "I see all Western Balkan countries which seek membership joining NATO, which would round off the started expansion of the area or security and prosperity in Southeastern Europe," according to the minister.