SLOVAK soldiers will be withdrawn from Kosovo based on a decision made by the cabinet on September 29, two days after Prime Minister Iveta Radičová visited the Slovak troops at their base in Kosovo, the SITA newswire reported.
Currently 140 members of the Slovak Armed Forces are deployed in the KFOR mission. The government said the decision was taken because of a change of tasks and structure of the KFOR mission and in consideration of the priorities of the Defence Ministry in future crisis management operations outside Slovakia.
The troops are scheduled to complete their operational tasks by the end of September and should return home by December 31, 2010. Their withdrawal will cost €1.5 million.
Slovak troops have been active in KFOR since September 7, 1999. Since 2001, a mechanised company of 100 soldiers has been serving in Kosovo as part of a joint Czech and Slovak battalion.
