Prime Minister Golob: "The Declaration is beneficial to Slovenia"

"As I have said many times in the past, the only commitment already made for Slovenia is the Resolution on the overall long-term programme for the development and equipping of the Slovenian Armed Forces until 2040, which was adopted by the National Assembly two weeks ago. This is a commitment to allocate 2% of GDP for defence expenditure this year. We will gradually increase this by 0.2% annually until 2030, when we will reach 3% of GDP in line with NATO's 2018 methodology.

In relation to this topic, the Resolution is very elaborate. Precisely for this reason, in order to avoid misunderstandings and prepare a concrete action plan, we will hold a series of meetings in the coming weeks to define a concrete scenario for what these 2% or 3% will cover.

Today, I also presented this to Allies and did not receive any comments. Quite the opposite. My feeling is that it was well received. Slovenia also did not oppose the Declaration adopted by NATO today, for a simple reason: because we believe that the Declaration contains sufficient safeguards. On the one hand, we can fulfil all our commitments with our concrete plan, and on the other, in 2029, we will review to what we will commit to in the years from 2030 to 2035 and beyond. The safeguards include the timeline, because the period has been extended to ten years, and the flexibility of what is considered broader defence expenditure. This is particularly important in terms of dual use and civilian use. Safeguards are also in place to ensure that this review is carried out in a timely manner, which is after 2029, when the technologies and the global situation will be known."

The Prime Minister thanked the team at the Permanent Representation to NATO and the Ministry of Defence, who had been negotiating hard behind the scenes in recent weeks to secure Slovenia's position. "The Declaration is beneficial to Slovenia," he stressed, adding that the Slovenian side, together with some other countries, for example the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, and Italy, had succeeded in amending the Declaration, especially with the safeguards, so that we can be satisfied with it today. I am pleased that Slovenia has managed to negotiate behind closed doors and has upheld its commitments which have already been approved by the National Assembly. That is what is most important," he said.

"Many countries, not just Slovenia, have been emphasising for some time that security is not just about weapons. After all, the climate crisis is forcing us to completely adapt other social subsystems. This will make it easier for us to cope with natural disasters," the Prime Minister said, emphasising that Slovenia has one of the best, if not the best civil protection system. "Much of what we are already investing today to make society more resilient, and of which we can be proud, is not being done by other members of the Alliance. I therefore believe that Slovenia's adjustment to these new requirements will in fact be easier than it will be for many other countries," he explained.

Prime Minister Golob also commented on topical international affairs: "When we talk about a ceasefire and peace in Ukraine, we must demand the same for Gaza," and concluded: "The greatness of a leader is never measured by the number of innocent civilians he kills, but by how he can achieve his goals without needless victims. Unfortunately, this does not apply to the current Israeli government that does not fully understand what greatness in management and leadership is."