[Serbian]

Slovenian troops "illegally in Afghanistan"

20 September 2010 | 13:11 | Source: B92

LJUBLJANA -- The union of the Slovenian military has sent a letter to the country's President Danilo Turk regarding troop deployment in Afghanistan.

The letter informed Turk that the Slovenian government was "illegally sending troops" taking part in NATO operations.

The union informed the commander-in-chief that the Slovenian government was unconstitutionally and illegally sending Slovenian soldiers to Afghanistan.

President of the Slovenian Armed Forces Union Gvido Novak added in the letter that it was necessary for parliament to make a decision first before Slovenian troops could participate in offensive, war actions.

Reports said that without a state of war being declared, the decision cannot be made without parliament, while the government is yet to send its proposal to MPs, only a week before the deployment of the Slovenian troops in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Colonel Vojteh Mihevc, the commander of the 14th contingent of the Slovenian Armed Forces which is supposed to be deployed to Afghanistan, has not denied that the army would be used in offensive operations outside the country's borders.

Novak warned in his letter that new Slovenian military mission to Afghanistan will not be peacekeeping and defensive any longer, and that it will be a war mission whose goal will be to defeat the enemy.

That is why the union has called upon the president to, in accordance with the Constitution, make a decision to protect Slovenian troops from missions that the government is unconstitutionally and illegally sending them to, and to protect them from committing planned and deliberate criminal acts while performing their tasks without a legal basis, said the letter.