Leaders attending a two-day NATO Summit in Chicago agreed that Afghanistan will receive financial help worth €3.1 billion per year to develop its security forces from 2014, with two thirds of the sum covered by the US. Slovakia will contribute about €390,000 a year, according to Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič.
“In my speech I said that Slovakia is prepared to contribute, but we would also like to learn from [Afghan President] Hamid Karzai how prepared the country itself is,” said Gašparovič, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák said that the main aim of the summit was not only to approve financial aid for Afghanistan, but also to show that the allies were ready to participate in stabilising the country as well as its army and police even after 2014, when NATO troops will depart, TASR wrote.
Gašparovič said during the summit that the Slovak peace-keeping mission will remain in Afghanistan as long as necessary. At the moment there are about 340 Slovak soldiers serving in Afghanistan as part of the ISAF mission, costing Slovakia about €38 million a year, according to TASR.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
