Politbarometer
"Politbarometer" is a regular monthly telephone poll,
which has included questions about Slovenia's membership in NATO since
1996. The poll covers 900 to 1000 adult citizens, who are interviewed
by trained interviewers over the phone.
The question "Do you agree with the endeavours of the Republic
of Slovenia to become a NATO member?" was posed since 1996 every
few months.
In 1997, when the pollsters started putting this question to the
public more frequently, the level of support was around 62%. However,
after the NATO Summit in Madrid in July of that year, it fell to 55.4
percent. In recent years, it has been between 50 and 55%.
In 2001, this question was included in the poll every month. The
percentage of those who gave a positive response was, on average,
between 50 and 55 percent - occasionally slipping below 50%, but
always remaining very close to this number.
In March 2002 interviewers of the Politbarometer public opinion
poll for the first time asked the respondents what their reply would
be at a hypothetical referendum on Slovenia's joining NATO. The
opposition to the entry was slightly increased in this new form of
questioning. If only those respondents were taken into account who
replied to the special question in March that they would actually
attend a referendum and had taken their stand on this issue, then 53%
of respondents would be in favour of joining NATO and 47% would vote
against it.
As reasons for their support the respondents stated that NATO
provides the best form of collective security, that they consider
collective security cheaper and that membership would have positive
economic implications for Slovenia.
The reasons against entry given by the respondents are high
expenses, disagreement with the participation of Slovenian soldiers in
military operations abroad, and the fact that the state is allegedly
not under threat (Politbarometer, March 2002)
For more data visit: http://nato.gov.si/eng/public-opinion/politbarometer-results/
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