The changes, which were being rushed through parliament, are in line with the agreement of the eurozone leaders from 21 July for an additional aid to Greece, amounting to EUR 109bn from public funds.

Under the agreement, the EFSF, which is funded by eurozone members, will be backed by guarantee commitments worth EUR 780bn and will have an effective lending capacity of EUR 440bn.

Presenting the motion to the MPs today, Finance Minister Franc Krizanic said that the situation on the international financial markets had "deteriorated drastically" over the summer, and that it was essential to reach full capacity of the EFSF and boost its flexibility.

Besides Ireland, Greece and Portugal, who are already receiving international aid, the costs of borrowing are increasing for some other eurozone members as well, and some countries are facing the declining credit ratings, the minister added.

Prime Minister Borut Pahor added that the support for the expansion of the mechanism would benefit Slovenia. "Deciding on the mechanism is not deciding about Greece only," he said, adding that Slovenia had the interest to remain in the eurozone.

Slovenia is not among countries which could be hit be the domino effect, but no-one can tell for sure that any country is safe from this danger, because the entire eurozone is in a debt crisis, Pahor stressed.

Slovenia's original share of the guarantees was EUR 2.07bn, but since Greece, Ireland and Portugal sought aid and stepped out of the mechanism, the Slovenian commitment increased to EUR 3.66bn.

The motion was supported by the coalition Social Democrats (SD) and Liberal Democrats (LDS) as well as the former coalition Zares and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS). The largest opposition party, the Democrats (SDS), announced before the vote it would not oppose either.

Luka Juri (SD) said that the rejection of the changes would present a devastating blow to the Slovenian financial sector and economy as well as Slovenian citizens.

While announcing support for the motion, Alojzij Potocnik said on behalf of Zares deputies that both the EU and Slovenian policies of dealing with the euro crisis were inappropriate.

DeSUS MPs are aware that a lot of money is in play, but nevertheless support the changes. Matjaz Zanoskar said that the party was aware that Slovenia is nearing the Greek scenario and that it might need aid itself in the future.

Andrej Vizjak of the SDS added that the efforts to stabilise the eurozone were accompanied by lots of dilemmas and questions which had not been answered by the government. One of the questions is the share of the loan to Greece which will have to be written off or at least reprogrammed.

The opposition People's Party (SLS) meanwhile did not want to take responsibility for the additional aid, and the opposition National Party (SNS) also announced it would reject the motion.

Deputy Franc Puksic believes that the best solution is that each eurozone member takes care of the stability of their public finances on their own. When Slovenia gets into trouble there will be no money left, and "we will be on our own with debts caused by other," according to him.

The European Commission welcomed the move as a key step towards the implementation of the July agreement which is deems a decisive element in the comprehensive response to the crisis in the eurozone.

Spokesman for the European Economic and Monetary Commissioner Olli Rehn, Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, also told the STA that the ratification process was expected to be completed by mid October.

Besides Slovenia, the strengthening of the EFSF has so far been confirmed by Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain.

According to the French press agency AFP, the Finnish and German parliaments are expected to take a vote on the relevant motion this week, while the decisions in Austria and Cyprus will be taken next week.

The parliaments of Estonia, Malta, the Netherlands and Slovakia are meanwhile expected to discuss boosting of the EFSF in October.

The EFSF is a temporary mechanism which is expected to be succeeded in 2013 by a permanent crisis mechanism for eurozone stability, called the European Stability Mechanism, with the capital of EUR 700bn.