Around 12 years ago Slovenia abolished army conscription and introduced a professional military. But ever since the financial and economic crisis, financing the soldiers and their equipment has presented a great burden to the every government.
The defence sector has always been most adequate for introducing austerity measures. Defence expenses have decreased from 1,5 percent of GDP in the year 2008 to less than one percent of the country’s GDP today. Considering the figures one must not forget that the financial crisis also severely cut back Slovenia' GDP. The majority of funds earmarked for the defence sector today are used to cover employee salaries.
In recent years, President Borut Pahor, who is also the army's Commander-in-Chief, has been assessing the army's capabilities as sufficient (in a time of peace) and insufficient (for a time of war or crisis). At the Sobra International Fair of Defence, Security, Protection and Rescue, which took place in Gornja Radgona last month, Defence Minister Andreja Katič called on Slovenia's young to voluntarily enroll for conscription. However there is no great interest in Slovenia for voluntary military service. From 2004 until the end of last year only a little less than 1.800 male and female soldiers have volunteered to serve in the military.
"One of the reasons is that states are coming to realize that the costs of having a professional army are much higher than previously thought. Another reason is that the security situation in the world is now different," is how Klemen Grošelj, an expert in defence studies, explained the new conscription trend to MMC. Grošelj added: "Slovenia froze its conscription system but did not clearly define under which circumstances it would unfreeze it again".