Slovenia intends to hold a referendum on its withdrawal from NATO, the new speaker of the State Assembly Zoran Stevanovic said.
According to the local RTV-SLO agency, the speaker of the parliament assured that the Pravda party he heads would vote on the proposal in the near future.
“We will categorically oppose interference in other people’s military and diplomatic conflicts, because Slovenia never benefits from this. At the same time, I must say that we promised the people to hold a referendum on withdrawing from NATO and we will hold this referendum,” Stevanovic promised.
He said Slovenia will pursue an independent, sovereign policy and cooperate with all countries. First of all, this concerns the great powers, cooperation with which in no case “should not mean submission.”
Slovenian Parliament voted last July to cancel two proposed referendums on NATO membership and defense spending, defusing a coalition rift and capping weeks of internal dispute over military budget targets.
The conflict was sparked by decisions at the NATO summit in The Hague on 9-10 June, where alliance members endorsed long-term spending goals of up to 5% of GDP by 2035.
