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Eurobarometer: Less importance given to defense and security in Slovenia

by AI | 25.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

According to the latest Eurobarometer survey, support for defense and security as a key aspect that the EU should focus on in the future is significantly lower in Slovenia than the European average.

According to the latest Eurobarometer survey, the aspect of defense and security in Slovenia is not among the top priority areas that the EU should focus on. Photo: Pine Slana/STA

Brussels, March 25 (STA) – Most European citizens want the EU to protect them in light of global crises and to act unitedly when facing challenges, according to the latest Eurobarometer, a public opinion survey by the European Parliament. Compared to the European average, respondents in Slovenia attributed much less importance to defense and security.

On the sub-question of which three aspects the EU should focus on the most, Europeans on average most frequently highlighted defense and security (36 percent). This topic did not make it into the top three most important aspects in Slovenia, as only 23 percent of respondents supported it, according to the Eurobarometer survey published on Tuesday.

In the European average, the second position among the most important aspects in the survey was competitiveness, economy, and industry (32 percent), and energy independence was highlighted as the third most important aspect (27 percent). In Slovenia, the three aspects were competitiveness (35 percent), food security and agriculture (33 percent), and energy independence (30 percent).

Almost nine out of ten (89 percent) citizens of the 27 EU member states and 91 percent of respondents in Slovenia believe that EU member states should act unitedly in facing global challenges.

Participating Slovenians were roughly aligned with the European average on whether the EU should protect citizens from global crises and security risks. Strengthening the EU’s role in this regard was supported by 70 percent of respondents in Slovenia and 66 percent of Union citizens.

As many as 79 percent of respondents in Slovenia believed that EU membership has brought benefits to their country. The EU average in this regard is 74 percent, which is the highest result ever recorded in the Eurobarometer survey regarding this question, first posed in 1983. (March 25)