Slovenian Armed Forces Day: A time to celebrate but also to criticize

Twenty years since the first international mission

Daniel Mlakar/Slovenia first celebrated Armed Forces Day in 1993.

The Slovenian Armed Forces are celebrating their special day, which was established in commemoration of the first generation of Slovenian recruits being enlisted at the training facilities of what was then the Territorial Defense in Ig and Pekre.

In the intervening 26 years, the Slovenian Armed Forces have undergone numerous changes. Slovenia eliminated compulsory military service and joined Euro-Atlantic alliances; the country has been participating in peace missions for more than 20 years. However, the state has also left its military in a destitute situation. Slovenia cannot even send 50 soldiers abroad because they are using medical leave as a form of blackmail. All the while, we are having very "Slovenian" debates about whose work is worth more – a soldier's or a police officer's.

Slovenia first celebrated Armed Forces Day in 1993, but just a short time later, attempts were made to move the official anniversary to mark December 1990, when something resembling the Slovenian armed forces began to take place in Kočevska Reka. Perhaps one reason for the proposed move was that May 15 is also the date when, in 1990, Slovenian generals Ožbolt and Hočevar signed a decree to disarm the Territorial Defense, a move that prompted the formation of the Maneuver Structure of National Defense.

Regardless of whether the armed forces are celebrating their 26th of their 27th anniversary, the fact remains that after years of abundance -- and even waste when it came to equipment purchases --, the military is now barely surviving and has just enough funding for its payroll and a projectile or two. But now, with its hopes raised high because of a quarter-million-euro increase in funding, the military leadership is publicly wishing for more than a billion euros that the armed forces would need in order to purchase armored vehicles. On the other hand, during the refugee crisis of 2015, the army couldn't even send slightly more than 150 soldiers to help the police on Slovenia's borders, and now has trouble finding 46 soldiers out of 7000 to send to Latvia – an indication of the general command's powerlessness and incompetence.

This year's Slovenian Armed Forces Day also happens to fall on the 20th anniversary of the first Slovenian participation in an international mission. On May 14, 1997, the first contingent of 21 members arrived in Albania to take part in in Operation Alba, which had been organized under the auspices of OSCE.

Robert Škrjanc (RA Slovenija)
Translated by J. B.