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Slovenia did not join a statement from nine Eastern European NATO members in support of Ukraine’s membership of the alliance and holds reservations due to the risks involved, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said on Tuesday.
Ukraine applied for NATO membership on Friday, asking for a fast-tracked process which is not currently possible under accession processes. Some nine countries, mainly in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, signed the statement in support of the application, but Ljubljana’s name was not amongst them.
“If NATO were to take a decision to admit Ukraine as a member, it could be a clear declaration of the start of the war,” she said about Slovenia’s potential support for Ukraine’s request to join NATO.
She said the war in Ukraine is escalating amid concerns that Russia could use tactical nuclear weapons. “This escalation, and consequently Ukraine’s application or Ukraine’s talks on NATO membership, are cause for grave concern,” she said.
If NATO were to consider admitting Ukraine, it would be a significant security risk, so Fajon believes serious discussion was needed in the country about “where such a situation is leading to” since Slovenia advocates a policy of peace, dialogue, and any such decision-making leads to escalation.
Asked whether talks were underway in Slovenia on the issue, Fajon said discussions involving the government and parliament were indeed taking place, and the foreign policy stakeholders would “sit down together this week to talk through several open issues in relation to Russia and the escalation of the war in Ukraine.”
(Sebastijan R. Maček | sta.si)
