In 2001 the Office launched the public awareness programme in order to raise public awareness in Slovenia and abroad about Slovenia's accession in NATO. The public awareness campaign was a cooperative project, led by a group composed of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Slovenian Armed Forces, the Mission of the Republic of Slovenia to NATO and the Government Public Relations and Media Office.
Other bodies and institutions (the Office of the Prime Minister, the Office of the President, the National Assembly and ministries) also participated in some information activities and were harmonized with them.
The purpose of the public awareness programme was to ensure clear, comprehensible and reliable information and facts about the NATO Alliance and the process of Slovenian accession process in the Alliance. Its main aim was to contribute to greater awareness, understanding and public discussion of the process of integration with the NATO and on the consequences that membership world have for Slovene citizens.
The programme included:
- Regular cooperation with the media (regularly providing information and other materials, opportunities to meet with senior NATO representatives, study visits to NATO and SHAPE, and cooperation for major events, visits by foreign statesmen or senior NATO representatives);
- Informative publications - To date, the following
publications have been issued: Natopis
[pdf - in Slovenian] (2002), an informative newsletter,
a handbook of frequently asked questions and answers (2002), a special
supplement in the journal NATO's
Nations (2002), leaflets NATO after
Prague [pdf - in Slovenian] (2003), and What is
NATO [pdf - in Slovenian] (2003) and At
Home in Europe, secure in NATO [pdf - in Slovenian]
(2003).
For raising public awareness, printed materials from other publishers were used also. Available were NATO publications NATO Handbook and Understanding the New NATO (in Slovenian), as well as the publication "What is NATO", published by the Atlantic Council of Slovenia. All publications can still be found in pdf format at the web site, and they can be ordered through the web site. The publications are available free of charge.
- The Natofon, a toll-free hotline (080 2122) was provided for citizen that posed questions on different aspects of accession process. The "Natofon" was a means of of the direct communication with citizens, who cold also ask questions through the web site, nato.gov.si. The answers to their questions were archived under a special heading: Frequently Asked Questions and Answers, which was accessible to all interested persons (in Slovenian only).
- A joint tematic web site dedicated to inclusion in NATO - The special web site nato.gov.si was introduced in 2001 having been edited by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence and the then Government PR & Media Office (now Government Communication Office). It provided regular information and was at the same time the largest Slovenian - language data base on NATO and Slovenian's accession activities in one place.
- Public discussions, roundtables and lectures - As part of the programme, several opportunities for lectures, discussions and roundtables with guests from Slovenia and abroad were prepared. The events were prepared independently or in cooperation with the ministries, the Atlantic Council of Slovenia, the Slovenian Committee for NATO, faculties and the NATO Alliance.
The public awareness campaign had its own visual corporate identity, which contributed to the recognition of and drew attention to the topic of Slovenian integration into NATO. The Office's NATO Department oversaw the carrying out of the public awareness programme for accession of Slovenia in NATO.
