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The prime minister said in his response that in the previous term neither the National Assembly nor any of the parliamentary committees had reached any decisions about the time limit of Slovenia's presence in Afghanistan let alone decided on the date of a withdrawal. He said that his government merely continued the work of the previous government without significantly changing the proposed solutions. The only change was the reduction in the size of the mission, he said.
In deciding on the matter, the government also weighed the pros and cons of staying in the mission and concluded that Slovenia wants to appear a credible ally in the operations it decides to support.
"I think the government made a good decision. It did not change any of the previous decisions. We are simply continuing the policy of the past governments," the PM pointed out. He also rejected the claim that the funds for the mission were not decreasing. After the contingent deceases in October, so will the costs, he asserted. Janša added that Slovenia was being reimbursed for most of its costs by allies in this concrete operation or through other types of military cooperation.