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The International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) in 
Ljubljana, Slovenia, regularly analyses events in the Middle East and the Balkans. Dr 
Milan Jazbec, Member of the International Institute IFIMES, presents and analyses 
at the occasion of the 60th anniversary of NATO and of the 5th anniversary of the 
Slovene membership as well as at the enlargement with Albania and Croatia, the 
Slovene experiences. He points out some most important conclusions and 
recommendations for the benefit of future member countries from the Western 
Balkans. His article »Slovenia and NATO: A Handful of Useful Experience« is 
published in its entirety. 
 
 
 
 
Dr Milan JAZBEC  
- Member of the International Institute IFIMES 
 
 
 
SLOVENIA AND NATO:  A HANDFUL OF USEFUL 
EXPERIENCES 
 
 
 
In the May Declaration from 1989, Slovenia laid down its membership ambition in 
the Euro Atlantic integration process. With this, the independence project became a 
structural part of the integration revival across Europe, as well as its reflection. 
During the early nineties a lively discussion was on the way to solve the security 
dilemma of the newborn state, spanning from classical neutrality to the membership 
status in the Alliance. The latter was formalized as a foreign policy priority in the 
amendments to the Resolution on the Starting Points of the National Security 
Strategy, adopted by the Slovene Parliament in January 1994. In the following years 
two events could be pointed out, namely the NATO Madrid Summit in June 1997 and 
launching of the Alliance’s new tool for the candidate countries, the Membership 
Action Plan. 
 
  
 
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A DECADE FOR THE MEMBERSHIP 
 
Slovenia achieved its membership ambition during the course of a decade – from 
January 1994 till March 2004, a series of events, activities and processes took place, 
with the broad participation of the political and expert communities, as well as the 
broader public, governmental and nongovernmental institutions, various individuals 
and media, be it from Slovenia or from NATO member countries and structures, as 
well as from third countries. 
 
In March 1994, Slovenia was the first among the aspirant countries to join the newly 
established Partnership for Peace Programme. It was also the first one, which 
established the Interministerial Working Group for achieving NATO membership, 
consisting of senior officials from various ministries and agencies. This was followed 
by broad and intensified participation in various programmes and activities, offered 
by the Alliance, to prepare the interested countries for the membership. The whole 
proces included military, defense, security, political and other sectors, which referred 
to NATO and its programmes. The political aspect stood out in particular during the 
years 1996 and 1997, in the period preceding directly the Madrid Summit, when 
Slovene expectations were very high, articulating in the expectation of invitation.  
   
Foreign policy and diplomatic activities, combined with the results of the reform 
proces, contributed to the support of influential member countries, although the 
much desired invitation was not extended to Slovenia, primarily due to off-stage 
political combinations. This resulted, from one point of view, in an obvious 
disappointment of the main political protagonists in membership, but from another 
point of view – what became appearant only later – opened vast space for the 
continuation of the reform process. It became broader, more coherent and 
continuous, with upgraded and in-depth communication with the Alliance and its 
member states. At the end of the 1997 Slovenia established its mission to NATO. 
 
In the beginning of 1998, the Slovene Government presented its national strategy for 
NATO membership, which helped to keep the momentum and the ambition alive. A 
couple of months later, NATO organized in Slovenia, for the first time on the territory 
of a partner country, the Cooperative Adventure Exchange military exercise with 
participation of more than 6000 soldiers from many member and partner countries. 
This was actually the first encounter of Slovenia with NATO on such a broad basis. 
 
In the autumn of 1999 Slovenia starts participating in the Membership Action Plan 
(MAP), the new NATO tool for candidate countries. MAP presents a broad document, 
which helps to bring countries closer to the membership, with particular emphasis on 
five areas, namely political-economic, defense, resources, security and legal. It 
focuses on continuity and broadness of the reform process, results of which should be 
shown through constant, indepth and demanding dialog with the Alliance. The 
experiences of the previous seven members show they were much better prepared for 
  
 
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the membership than the three from 1997. It also shows that Slovenia has usefully 
invested time from Madrid 1997 to Prague 2002. 
   
The Slovene public opinion support for the membership differed through the 
mentioned decade. It was more or less in favor of the membership, though support 
fell below 40% a couple of times. From mid 2001 till March 2003, when the 
membership referendum took place, a lively and broad, from time to time also very 
polemic, public discussion about the membership was on its way. The public 
awareness campaign touched upon various topics (like the necessity of membership 
as such, costs, alternatives), which above all established broad, indepth and direct 
communication between public and representatives of the defense, military and 
security structures. That was an important dimension in the Slovene public discourse 
on current political issues. Slovenia stands out among the group of 2004 members 
with this experience. The positive result from the referendum (66% in favor, 60% 
turnout) was an important political back-up for membership, which, following the 
invitation from the Prague Summit in November 2002, materialized on March 23, 
2004 (a year after the referendum).  
 
USEFUL AND HETEROGENEOUS EXPERIENCE 
 
Slovenia’s cooperation with and within NATO so far presents a handful of useful and 
heterogeneous experience for its further activities, as well as for future member 
countries, in particular those from the Western Balkans. This experience could be 
viewed from three points in time, namely from the decade of pre-membership 
activities, after the first membership year, and after five years of membership. 
 
Firstly, the membership project was conceptualized and perceived as a state project 
and not as of only the Foreign and the Defense Ministries and the Slovene Armed 
Forces, although their activities dominated in the public eye. This was to a certain 
extend normal, hence additional attention for other aspects of NATO activities (like 
its science programmes, environmental issues, education and scholarship issues) was 
necessary. One could point out the following areas with the richest experience from 
the mentioned period: defense, military, security, organizational, psychological, 
sociological and the media. Having in mind the direct relation with the Alliance, the 
following aspects stood out: a realistic approach in planning and execution (not to 
promise anything beyond capabilities, or what could not be fulfilled), the ability to 
show constant progress in the defense reform process and transparency at work 
(what directly raises the level of solidarity within the Alliance). The Alliance was 
expecting and encouraging a responsible relationship and cooperation of the 
executive branch of power with the legislative one (after all, national parliaments 
execute democratic control of armed forces and ratify the accession protocols) as well 
as overall open and constant communication with the public (from Autumn 2001 till 
Spring 2004 more than hundred of public debates at various levels and media all 
around Slovenia took place, with participation of both NATO pros and cons). 
  
 
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Secondly, some experiences from the first membership year have been those from 
the previous period, although much stronger, and some new have arisen. The 
membership is above all the beginning of the process and not its end (some new 
members have understood this the other way round). A certain part of this experience 
is visible to the outsiders as a bureaucratic and also political routine, the major part 
however as a demanding organizational endeavor, which depends on the efficiency of 
home institutions and of their foreign policy making capabilities. A lot is being 
expected from a new member, although there are no special demands from her. If the 
new member state is not active and does not participate in various processes, it finds 
herself sooner or later on the margin of the Alliance. One could also say that 
membership is a very demanding conceptual and substantial change, for which no 
preparation is sufficient. In these dynamics, the focal point is aimed towards a fast 
and smooth structural adaptation of, primarily, foreign and defense ministries to the 
North Atlantic Council weekly routine work. Additionally, special attention has to be 
devoted to substance and policy making, since the increasing information workload 
could easily push substance aside. The defense planning system (resources and 
procurement in particular) and personnel policy tremendously gain in importance. 
Membership opens new promotion opportunities within various structures of the 
Alliance (the Slovene representative Ms. Edita Štok became the first chairwoman of 
the NATO medical committee, in autumn 2004). The dialogue with the public, 
however, remains an utmost priority. 
 
Thirdly, the fifth membership anniversary points out the importance and 
demanding nature of some of previous experiences and picks up some new ones. 
There is a well-established practice of learning from previous members within the 
Alliance, but also gaining specific experience from the new ones is part of this 
practice. Each single enlargement takes place in different security environment, 
which means that new members bring their particular historical, cultural and 
political tradition into the Alliance. A synergy of all of this is useful for all. 
Forwarding already gained experience to candidate countries and to all, who show 
interest for this, is part of the expected behavior within the Alliance. Year-long 
membership would mean the upgrading of all previous experiences, but also a need 
to deepen, expand and enrich them. This presents a never-ending process, which 
inspires the philosophy of enlargement and transformation. Its core presents the 
defense planning system and the capability maintenance; hence, a highly responsible 
and serious approach to constant fulfilment of the Alliance’s mission is in place all the 
time. Each further enlargement has to prove this progressively. 
   
CONCLUSION  
 
Two aspects are of special importance while contemplating, generalizing and 
forwarding the Slovene NATO experience to those interested in it. Firstly, the 
membership ambition was a way of structural inclusion of Slovenia in the 
  
 
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international community and in the Euro Atlantic integration process in particular. 
Secondly, it was the way to establishing the national defense, military and security 
system, which would refer to the changed security environment after the end of the 
Cold War. The whole process was executed transparently and in the final phase highly 
intensive, with a careful attitude towards, and critically seen by, the public. Only a 
handful involved viewed the membership with euphoria, and Slovenia was clearly an 
exemption with such approach. For a great part of the supporters of the membership 
ambition, this never was only a point in the air, which should be achieved as soon as 
possible, whatever the costs and gains. 
 
During the course of the years membership becomes a relatively boring routine for 
outsiders and remains a demanding political and organizational process for insiders. 
For the sake of both a permanent and transparent relation with public opinion is 
necessary. Each member state hosts sooner or later important NATO events and also 
important activities of the Alliance, like peace support operations and missions (for 
example Afghanistan), reflect critically in the public eye. Again, constant dialogue 
with the public is important from various points of view. Last but not least, the 
support of member states for the enlargement process also depends on public opinion 
support. 
 
For Slovenia all these aspects share additional importance because of its support for 
the membership ambition of the Western Balkans countries. Their membership and 
activities in various NATO programmes as well as in the Alliance as such directly 
contribute to security and stability of the region. A welcoming of Albania and Croatia 
to the membership is a very important point in the history of enlargement. 
 
 
Ljubljana, 30 March 2009                                    
                                                                     International Institute for Middle-East 
                          and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) – Ljubljana 
 
                                                                     Directors: 
               Bakhtyar Aljaf                                                                
                         Zijad Bećirović, M.Sc. 
 
 
 
                                                     


Slovenia and NATO: a handful of useful experience

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