At a time when the West is doubling down on militarism, Slovenia briefly challenged the status quo. Spurred by Donald Trump’s renewed pressure on NATO members to drastically boost defense spending—culminating in the alliance’s recent decision to hike defence budgets to 5 percent of GDP by 2035—Slovenia dared to open a debate that NATO elites hoped was long buried: Should citizens have a say in the military future of their country?
The decision, pushed through at NATO’s June summit in The Hague, was Trump’s triumph. Praised as a messianic figure by NATO leaders (“daddy”) and feted despite his role in recent military escalations, including the strike on Iran, Trump turned the gathering into a celebration of raw Western power. Yet beneath the applause and champagne, many member states—Spain, Slovakia, Hungary, and Czechia—were uneasy. Increasing military budgets amid social crises and economic stagnation is politically toxic.