A DECLARATION called “It’s Time to Leave, It’s Time to Negotiate” initiated by Slovak intellectuals rejects NATO’s plan to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, one of the topics of the informal meeting of defence ministers held in Bratislava.
Signers of the declaration include left-leaning activist and historian Eduard Chmelár, publicist Michal Havran, journalist Tina Čorná, former Czechoslovak Prime Minister Ján Čarnogurský, writers Peter Jaroš and Martin Kasarda, sociologist Zuzana Kusá, and political scientist Radovan Geist, the SITA newswire reported.
They wrote that they consider the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan to be a continuation of the policy of former US President George W. Bush.
“This war is a heritage of ‘Bush-ism’ and if you object to that philosophy, you must reject this war, too,” SITA quoted from the declaration. “Therefore we call for setting a date of withdrawal from Afghanistan. It is time for negotiations with everyone who is willing to negotiate.”
Their statement refers to Slovakia's commitment to allies but argues that no article of the Washington Treaty commits the country to be involved in anything other than defence operations.
