Montenegro to Send More Troops to Afganistan

Montenegro's Defence Minister Predrag Boskovic will visit the US next week to meet the US Defense Secretary James Mattis and offer more troops for the NATO-led mission in Afganistan.

According to government documents, which BIRN has seen, Montenegro plans to increase the number of soldiers by 50 per cent to meet US demands  for allies to help share the load.

Currently, Montenegro has 18 troops in the country, rising according to plans to 26-28.

"Montenegro will strengthen its presence in international peacekeeping missions, primarily in Afghanistan, which is in line with the initiative from the Pentagon," the document reads.

According to the document, Boskovic and Mattis will also seal an agreement on measures to protect classified data between the US and Montenegro.

Donald Trump's administration announced last August that it would increase the number of US soldiers in Afghanistan and urged all NATO allies to do the same.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would send more troops to Afghanistan and that 15 of 29 member countries had already pledged to contribute to Resolute Support, the mission which in 2015 succeeded the 13-year-old NATO-led combat mission, International Security Assistance Force, ISAF.

But some significant NATO allies, including Germany, have ignored the US demands and decided not to send more troops, decreasing them from 5,000 in 2014 to 950 in 2017.

Montenegro, the newest NATO member since last June, has been participating in various missions in Afghanistan for almost eight years. It had its largest presence with 42 soldiers during the duration of the ISAF mission.

There are now 18 members of the Montenegrin Armed Forces within the seventh contingent of the Resolute...