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DE RUEHSL #0276 1631605
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O 111605Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1781
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
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C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000276 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2014 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ISAF NL LO
SUBJECT: SLOVAK GOVERNMENT APPROVES NEW MANDATE AND 
MISSIONS FOR SLOVAK TROOPS WITH ISAF 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Vincent Obsitnik for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary. The GoS approved a proposal on June 11 to 
increase Slovakia's contribution to ISAF up to a total of 246 
soldiers, including 24 troops who will operate without 
geographical caveats. Defense Minister Baska has said he 
plans to increase the number of Slovak troops serving in ISAF 
to 280 during the current election cycle, and to send combat 
forces after the next elections in 2010. 
 
¶2. (U) On June 11, Slovakia's government approved a proposal 
from Baska to "change the mandate and number of members of 
the Slovak Armed Forces, and to complete the operations of 
the Health Team of the Slovak Armed Forces, in Operation ISAF 
in Afghanistan." Pending Parliamentary approval, the proposal 
calls for Slovakia's contribution to grow to a maximum of 246 
soldiers, with deployments scheduled to take place in 
2008-2009. Under the new mandate: 
- Up to 57 engineers will remain at Kandahar Air Base 
- Up to 6 soldiers will be assigned to Provincial 
Reconstruction Teams (PRTs); these soldiers will be 
authorized to operate in the entire operational zone of ISAF 
- Up to 15 soldiers will be assigned to Operational Mentor 
and Liaison Teams (OMLTs) in Uruzgan in cooperation with the 
Dutch; these will be sent in three six-month rotations 
- Up to 6 soldiers will serve at ISAF headquarters; these 
soldiers will be authorized to operate in the entire 
operational zone of ISAF 
- Up to 12 soldiers will be assigned to a new National 
Support Element (NSE) to provide direction, logistics, and 
personnel and financial support to all Slovak soldiers in 
Afghanistan; these soldiers will be authorized to operate in 
the entire operational zone of ISAF 
- Up to 50 soldiers for a guard unit to secure "Holland Base" 
within the perimeter of Forward operating Base (FOB) Ripley 
in Tarin Kowt; these soldiers will fall under Dutch command 
- Up to 50 soldiers for a guard unit to operate within the 
perimeter of Kandahar Air Base in close cooperation with the 
Canadians 
- Up to 50 soldiers to guard Camp Hadrian in Uruzgan 
Province; these soldiers will fall under Dutch command 
 
Under the current approved mandate, Slovaks will contribute 
115 soldiers by the Fall 2008 to Afghanistan with the bulk 
going to support the Dutch. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In a press conference following the government 
session, PM Robert Fico predicted easy Parliamentary approval 
since the new mandate does not include combat troops, troops 
will serve only in defined geographic areas and, unlike Iraq, 
ISAF is a NATO mission with a UN resolution behind it. It is 
not clear when the proposal will be approved by Parliament. 
The preliminary agenda for the next Parliamentary session has 
already been published. Although it could change, Post rather 
predicts the proposal will be approved in Parliament's 25th 
session from September 9-25. 
 
¶4. (C) Baska told the Ambassador on June 9 that he would not 
propose sending Slovakia's Special Forces to ISAF until after 
the next general election, which should be held in 2010. 
Baska said that insufficient training and equipment are the 
reasons for not proposing to send Special Forces sooner, but 
when pressed by the Ambassador, he acknowledged that the 2010 
general election is the critical factor. In January Baska 
spoke publicly about the possibility of sending combat troops 
to Afghanistan in the future and was promptly and publicly 
overruled by the PM. On June 10, during an inspection of the 
MoD, the PM again said that he "disagrees with sending combat 
troops that would carry out combat operations in which the 
health and lives of our soldiers would be threatened." 
 
¶5. (U) Fico and Baska both said on June 10 that Slovakia has 
no plans to reach NATO's defense spending target of two 
percent of GDP in the near future. Fico said that he 
considers the current budget sufficient for the coming 
period. Baska added that "we are not going to abide by the 
two percent of GDP at all, we are not the only country not to 
meet those two percent." 
OBSITNIK