Slovenian protest in Ljubljana demands exit from NATO

A night‑time protest in Ljubljana called for Slovenia to leave NATO and for a halt to rising defence spending. Demonstrators carried slogans such as “NATO = a swamp”, “We are no longer NATO slaves” and demanded sanctions on the United States and Israel, urging that military funds be redirected to the public sector.

Organizer Tara Maslaković accused the government of justifying higher defence budgets with false promises of peace and noted that the previous liberal administration only offered symbolic support for Palestine while maintaining ties with Israel. The protest followed the NATO summit in Ankara, where leaders affirmed support for Ukraine and the alliance’s commitment to raise defence spending to 5 % of GDP by 2035. Slovenia plans to spend just under 2 % of GDP on defence this year but the prime minister, Janez Janša, announced an additional €300 million to meet NATO demands. Parliamentary speaker Zoran Stevanović has revived talk of a possible referendum on NATO membership, suggesting the upcoming local elections in autumn could be the appropriate moment.