Slovenia and NATO Enlargement
| Date | 01 March 2000 |
| Author | Anton Bebler |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200005500109 |
| Published date | 01 March 2000 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
ANTON
BEBLER
Slovenia
and
NATO
enlargement
THE
ENLARGEMENT
OF
THE
North
Atlantic
Treaty
Organization
(NATO)
into
central-east Europe
has
been
the
subject
of
lively
debate
for
almost
a
decade.
Opinions
and
positions
on
this
subject
in
Europe
and
North
America
have
ranged
from
angry
denunciations through
solid
criticisms,
serious
doubts,
and
guarded
support
to
enthusiastic
accolades.
These
contrasting
attitudes underline
the
flux
and
uncer-
tainties,
as
well
as
the divisibility,
of
security
in
the
post-cold
war
era.
Less
than
three
years
after
NATO's
initial
stonewalling
on
enlargement
in
late
1994,
invitations
to
join
have
been
extended
to
three
former
members
of
the
Warsaw
Treaty
Organization.
But
nine
of
the
twelve
central-east European candidates
still
remain
at
NATO's
gates,
not
satis-
fied
with
the
status
of
so-called
'partner
countries.'
One
of
them
is
the
Republic
of
Slovenia.
According
to
many
experts
and
observers,
reducing
the
'grey
zone'
of
insecurity
and
uncertainty
in
Europe
is
an
important
rationale
for
NATO
enlargement.
Javier
Solana,
the
secretary
general
of
NATO,
con-
firmed
this
when
he
stated
that
'enlargement
must
...
promote
greater
stability
not
only
to
the
territories
of
the
new
invitees
but
through
them
to
the
neighboring
regions."
Although
this
statement
and
its
underlying
contention
have
certain
merits
in
general
terms,
they
raise
some
serious
questions
in
relation,
for
example, to
Slovenia,
whose
candidacy
was
deferred
at
the
NATO
meeting
in
Madrid
in
July
1997.
Professor
of
Political
Science,
University
ofLjubljana,
andi
President,
Atlantic
Council
of
Slovenia.
i
Javier
Solana,
'NATO
beyond
enlargement,'
in
Anton
Bebler,
ed,
The
Challenge
of
NATO
Enlargement (Westport
CT:
Praeger
1999),
4.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Winter
1999-2000
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