On 19 June 2025, the Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia hosted a high-level consultation titled “The Future of the Defence of the Republic of Slovenia in Light of a Changing Security Environment and the NATO Summit in The Hague” at Eurostars uHotel in Ljubljana. The event brought together prominent experts and institutional representatives from the fields of defence, security, diplomacy, and academia.
Speakers included:
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- Ambassador Vojko Volk, State Secretary for National and International Security
- Boštjan Pavlin, State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence
- Prof. Dr. Iztok Prezelj, President of the Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana
- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jelena Juvan, Vice-President of the Council and Head of the Defence Studies Department
- Dr. Klemen Grošelj, former State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence
Moderator: Brin Najžer, PhD, Vice-President of the Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia
The event was attended by representatives from national ministries and institutions (MoD, MoI, Police, MFA, Office of the President, Civil Protection, Government Information Security Office), the Slovenian Armed Forces, veteran organisations, the private security and defence sector, the media, and diplomatic missions.
Discussion topics included:
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- Geopolitics and great power relations
- Increasing defence spending and NATO commitments
- Pacifism and modern warfare
- Dual-use technologies
- Bottom-up approaches in defence policymaking
- Strategic communication
- Youth values and their attitude toward defence
Key messages:
Boštjan Pavlin: “Through all the changes in our defence system, we are also strengthening societal resilience – and a resilient society is the foundation of any state’s security.”
Vojko Volk: “Slovenia did not join the EU and NATO by accident – it took effort, advocacy, and determination.”
We sincerely thank all participants for contributing to a meaningful exchange on the defence challenges of our time.
