GOS SUPPORTS SENDING MORE TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000578 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS AF NL LO SUBJECT: GOS SUPPORTS SENDING MORE TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN Classified By: Ambassador Rodolphe M. Vallee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d ) ¶1. (C) Summary. The Slovak government approved a proposal to increase Slovak military participation in Afghanistan. If approved by Parliament, 111 Slovak soldiers will be deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, 41 of whom will work with Dutch forces in Uruzgan. The Dutch, US and other NATO member states lobbied hard for this new commitment to Afghanistan. This proposal is consistent with what Dutch Ambassador to Slovakia Rob Swartbol told the Ambassador Monday. Swartbol said that in a second stage, to be presented to the government in January, the 57 currently deployed engineers would be replaced by two additional platoons who will provide base protection in Uruzgan and additional medical team assistance. This second phase would bring Slovakia's total commitment in Afghanistan up to 200 soldiers. End summary. ¶2. (U) The GoS approved a recommendation tabled by DefMin Frantisek Kasicky at the Government Session on October 17. If the measure is approved by Parliament, Slovakia will increase its deployment in Afghanistan to 111 in 2008. In addition to an already deployed 57-person engineering unit at Kandahar air base and two officers at ISAF Headquarters, the proposed measure calls for: - 2 soldiers to join the Hungarian-led PRT; - 2 soldiers to join the Dutch-led PRT; - 4 soldiers to join the Dutch OMLT; - 35 soldiers to provide base protection and training in cooperation with the Netherlands at Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan; - 1 additional soldier (3 total) to ISAF Headquarters; - 8 soldiers in a medical unit to serve at KAIA air base in Kabul for 6 months. ¶3. (U) Kasicky said the deployment is proof of Slovakia's commitment to NATO and its partners in Afghanistan. The approved proposal sets the cost of Slovakia's deployments to Afghanistan in 2008 at 355,594,800 Slovak crowns (approximately 15.1 million USD). In the absence of an ill PM Robert Fico, Deputy PM and Interior Minister Robert Kalinak chaired the government session and announced its results. According to press reports, Kalinak said civilians from the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would serve on the PRT missions as well. He did not specify how many civilians would serve. ¶4. (SBU) Parliament is likely to approve the proposal during its next scheduled session from November 27 - December 14. The GoS has been laying the groundwork for a decision to increase its commitment to Afghanistan for some time. MP Bela Bugar, former leader of the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) told Poloff that the proposal would easily pass in parliament. The governing Slovak National Party (SNS) and the opposition Christian Democratic Movement have questioned the value of Slovak deployments to Afghanistan in past, but are likely to support this measure. ¶5. (U) The Dutch Ambassador in Slovakia issued a press release welcoming the GoS decision to increase their presence in Afghanistan and deploy troops to Uruzgan. ¶6. (SBU) Some media (daily newspapers Sme and Pravda) reported the first announcement of the proposal on October 16 in juxtaposition with earlier comments by the PM that he would not be "extorted with moral appeals" into sending more troops to Afghanistan. In fact those comments were made almost a year ago when his government was considering a NATO request to transfer the Slovak engineering unit to Kandahar. For the past six months the PM and MoD have said consistently and publicly that Afghanistan is one of the priority foreign missions of the Slovak armed forces. VALLEE