NATO panel discussion in Slovenia highlights new challenges to global security

The public panel aimed to provide the Slovenian public with some insight into the process of drafting NATO’s new Strategic Concept, before the second seminar of the Group of Experts on the new Concept takes place in Brdo on 13 November.

The event, supported by NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, gathered some 200 participants, mostly social science students, but also members of the Slovenian Parliament, NGO representatives, government officials and others.

Panellists included Slovenian Defence Minister Ljubica Jelusic, NATO’s Director of Policy Planning, Jamie Shea, member of the Group of Experts, Ambassador Giancarlo Aragona, Professor Sten Rynning from the University of Southern Denmark, and President of the Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia, Professor Anton Bebler.

In discussing the need for a new Strategic Concept, Jamie Shea flagged the fact that the security environment has changed dramatically since 1999 when the last Concept was adopted. At that time, NATO had only 19 members; now there are 28 Allies.

Minister Jelusic said that newer members such as Slovenia would like to see the new Concept stress collective defence, the continuation of military transformation and strategic partnerships with other international organizations. Also important for the Concept, she said, are NATO’s relations with Russia, the Alliance’s open door policy and the Comprehensive Approach.

The discussion also touched on the challenges NATO is facing in Afghanistan and how this operation may affect the drafting of the Strategic Concept.

Moderated by Slovenian TV moderator Jerca Zajc, the debate was staged as a TV studio talk show and will be shown on Slovenian Television station RTV as part of the series called “GLOBUS”.