Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob has announced plans to call a consultative referendum on the country’s membership in NATO. “Either we stay and pay the membership fee, or we leave the alliance,” read a statement from the government, reflecting Golob’s reaction to a recent parliamentary vote. That vote approved a proposal for a separate referendum on increasing defense spending.
At the end of last week, Golob declared that he wants the public to have a say on whether Slovenia should remain in NATO. Posting on platform X, the Prime Minister emphasized that “there are only two options. Either we stay and pay the contribution, or we leave the alliance. Everything else is populist deception of the public.”
His proposal is a direct response to the Slovenian parliament’s recent approval of a left-wing initiative calling for a referendum on raising defense spending. That initiative is connected to Slovenia’s pledge, made during the NATO summit in The Hague, to increase its defense budget to 5 percent of GDP by 2035.
Golob’s party voted against the referendum proposal in parliament, but some of his coalition partners broke ranks and joined the opposition in supporting it. The motion passed by a narrow margin.
This development echoes a similar stance taken by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who recently questioned Slovakia’s defense commitments within NATO. In mid-June, Fico stated, “In my opinion, Slovakia would benefit from neutrality,” hinting at a potential shift in policy amid rising pressure to raise military spending.
