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Gasparovic: Double Number of Troops to Be Deployed in ISAF Mission

Bratislava, December 15 (TASR) - Slovakia plans to deploy twice as many soldiers as is currently the case to take part in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan in the future, President Ivan Gasparovic said at a press conference in Bratislava on Tuesday.

"We've known it for a long time now. I think we informed NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen when he was visiting Slovakia (in October)," said Gasparovic when asked whether the number of troops that Slovakia plans to deploy was specified at his meeting with Defence Minister Jaroslav Baska on Tuesday. "The exact number can't be stated, but it's double," said the president. Slovakia currently has 262 soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

Gasparovic doesn't see a problem in the fact that Slovakia counts on expanding its participation only in the ISAF mission. He added that Slovakia is currently meeting all the demands put on it. He also stated that a new NATO strategy is currently being prepared, which "will then show what new is going to be necessary in terms of our activities in NATO - whether to improve, increase or regulate."

Gasparovic also mentioned the planned reduced budget for the Defence Ministry next year. "It's a problem. I say it openly, but I'm very glad that rationalising steps were found which aren't going to interfere with the army's mobility and its ability to manage its tasks," he said.

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