International Military Education and Training Program The Slovenia Experience - Illustration - Statistical Data Included

DISAM Journal, Fall, 2001 by Irena Cufar

Introduction

The Republic of Slovenia, independent since June 25, 1991, is situated at the juncture of four major European regions: the Alps, Hungarian plain, Karst and Mediterranean. It occupies an area slightly larger than New Jersey, and borders Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Italy. Its capital is Ljubljana, which is also the largest city in the country of two million people.

Between the end of the World War I and 1991, Slovenia was one of the six republics of Yugoslavia. When it declared its independence, after a national referendum, the Serbian-dominated government ordered the Yugoslavian National Army (JNA) to keep Slovenia in line. The plan was for the JNA to take over the border crossings to cut Slovenia off from the rest of the world, disarm the territorial defense force (a predecessor of the Slovene Armed Forces) and force the Slovenian government to abandon all activities aimed at establishing an independent and sovereign state.

Some brief fighting took place in which the people of Slovenia showed that they stood by their decision firmly and were ready and willing to defend it. The territorial defense force (TDF) and police won the battle for the border crossings, stopped deployment of the JNA, and blocked their barracks to cut them off from supplies. After the "ten-day war" and subsequent peace declaration, the last JNA soldier left Slovenia in October of 1991. Unlike Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and recently Macedonia, Slovenia was able to maintain a peaceful status.

Slovenia is nowadays one of the most successful countries in transition from socialism to a market economy. It boasts a stable growth of gross domestic product per capita of $10,078 in 1999, and ranks among the countries with the lowest degree of risk for international investment.

Slovenia is a parliamentary democracy, and its constitution dates to December 1991. The head of state is president of the republic, elected every five years, for a maximum of two five year terms. The president is commander-in-chief of the Slovenian armed forces. The current president, Milan Kucan, was elected in November 1997 for the second time. The legislative authority is the national assembly (parliament) with ninety deputies. The executive branch is the government appointed by the national assembly. Slovenia had its third parliamentary elections since independence on October 15, 2000. A political party, Liberal Democracy of Slovenia, which has shared power much of the time since Slovenia's independence, won again. The current government is a coalition of the aforementioned Liberal Democracy, United List of Social Democrats and two other small parties.

The main Slovenian foreign policy goal is integration into the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Although widely considered to be a first round candidate for NATO expansion, Slovenia was passed over for membership during the July 1997 Madrid Summit. It still has a reasonable chance of being invited to join NATO, however, if further expansion rounds occur at the planned NATO summit in 2002. If the membership in NATO is still somewhat uncertain, it is just a question of time until Slovenia becomes a member of the European Union. There are ongoing negotiations and a harmonizing of Slovenian legislative, political and economic systems with the European Union. The European Union will start accepting new members after 2002 and the intention of the Slovenian government is to be among the first to gain full membership.

Slovene Armed Forces

The beginning of the Slovene Armed Forces (SAF) coincides with the beginning of Slovenia as a sovereign state. The Slovenian military tradition, however, goes back to the 7th century, to Carinthia, the first Slovenian state. The roots of SAF lie in the territorial defense force established in 1968. The TDF was a constituent part of the Yugoslavian National Army. It was established after the aggression of Warsaw Treaty members against Czechoslovakia, which was a clear sign to the Yugoslav political and military leaders that Yugoslavia needed stronger and more efficient armed forces. In Slovenia the commanding language was Slovene, while in the Yugoslavian National Army it was Serbo-Croatian. Over the years however it became more and more obvious that Serbia's ambition was to rule over all Yugoslavia and subsequently the distrust of the Slovenian TDF grew, culminating with the first democratic elections in 1990 in which the opposition won. Shortly after the Yugoslav government issued an order to the Slovenian TDF to disarm, only a few commanders obeyed it. On the contrary, the development of the Slovenian TDF was accelerated and together with the police troops it played a crucial role in the ten-day war for independence.

The basic mission of the Slovene Armed Forces is primarily to deter a possible enemy from an armed intervention against Slovenia and, secondly, to defend the country. By taking an active role in peace support and other multinational activities, the SAF contributes to the security and stability of the region.