Defence Minister Jakič to Attend Discussions on Future of NATO

22. 10. 2013

Defence Minister Jakič to Attend Discussions on Future of NATO


Defence Minister Roman Jakič will take part in a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday dedicated to the future of the alliance, including plans for next year's summit.


Slovenia would like expansion to be on the agenda at the summit in London and for Montenegro to get an invitation to join, but consensus is proving elusive.

 

The discussions on NATO's post-2014 priorities will be held as part of a working dinner the ministers are to hold on the first day of the meeting.

 

The summit next year will mark the fifth anniversary of the expansion to Croatia and Albania and the tenth anniversary of the expansion to Slovenia and six other countries and the issue of further enlargement is likely to be raised.

 

 

Slovenia would like Montenegro to be issued an invitation to join on the basis of individual progress so that it would not have to wait to enter as part of a package of new members.

 

While there is a chance it may indeed receive an invitation, the issue is very much up in the air as the member states are not on the same page on this, unnamed sources at NATO say.

 

"Enlargement fatigue" in the EU has been highlighted as a key issue, given that NATO membership often leads to EU membership.

 

The traditional EU members who are also members of NATO are therefore usually very strict when considering efforts for new countries to join NATO, the sources say.

 

Slovenia maintains that the enlargement of EU and NATO must not stop until the entire Western Balkans has joined NATO, highlighting the importance of this process for stability in the region.

 

However, some of the older members have indicated that they would prefer to establish partnerships, highlighting that 2014 will also be an anniversary of several notable partnerships in which the alliance is involved, including the Partnership for Peace.

 

In addition to the future of the alliance, the defence ministers also expected to discuss plans for Afghanistan, where NATO is currently winding down combat operation and getting ready to launch an operation supporting training of Afghan security forces.

 

Slovenia is currently reducing its military presence in Afghanistan and is debating options for participating in the training operation that would be launched after 2014.

 

Also expected to be debated at the two-day meeting are the latest security challenges and efforts to promote integration of armed forces and smart defence projects.

 

In this respect the talks are to touch on financing of smart defence, where Slovenia supports joint financing.

The ministers are also expected to tackle the falling defence budgets in member states, including in Slovenia.NATO officials are most concerned by the structure of Slovenia's defence budget, which assigns 80% for labour costs, whereas investments only account for 3%.

 

It is expected that officials from the NATO Secretariat will visit Slovenia in the coming weeks to discuss Slovenia's commitments in defence spending.

 

Source: SloveniaTimes

 

Defence Minister Jakič to Attend Discussions on Future of NATO