Slovenia's troops taking part in the NATO battle group in Slovakia will complete their mission next year, after which the country will deploy 250 troops to Romania. The government also decided on 12 October to increase the Slovenian military presence in Latvia to up to 100 soldiers, up from the current 35.

As part of its military presence in Slovakia, Slovenia has currently 105 troops deployed at the Enhanced Vigilance Activities (eVA) on rotational basis. This mission will end on 30 June 2024, a good two years after the country joined it in March 2022.

However, Defence Minister Marjan Šarec said before that Slovenia would continue to cooperate in NATO's activities on its eastern flank, that is in Romania.

The government now decided that, since Slovenia is part of NATO's south-east operational area, troops will be deployed there in the second half of 2024.

The scope of cooperation in NATO's battle group in Latvia will meanwhile increase from 50 to up to 100 soldiers with the option of rotation. There are currently 35 Slovenian soldiers in Latvia.

Only a day earlier Minister Šarec announced that Slovenia will increase the number of its troops in the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo to at least 100.

The government made the decisions as it received a report on the implementation of the strategy of Slovenia's participation in international operations and missions, participation in ongoing international operations and missions in 2022 and plans for future cooperation. The report also notes Slovenia's cooperation in tackling specific issues and crises at various international fora.

"Slovenia also strengthened its presence in the operations and missions of the EU's common security and defence policy, as well as in the UN peacekeeping missions, the operation of the coalition against the Islamic State and the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe," the government said.

Last year Slovenia decided to participate in an EU mission to train the Ukrainian armed forces, and contributed to conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction in the framework of international development cooperation and humanitarian aid.

According to information on the website of the Slovenian Armed Forces, a total of 278 Slovenian soldiers were serving in various international missions and operations around the world as of 12 September this year.