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The government decided that the funding would be allocated for a period of three years. The source of the funding will be the Defense Ministry's budget for a given year, Defense Ministry's State Secretary Janis Sarts told reporters. According to Sarts, the funding will be meant for the maintenance of the Afghan army and police, writes LETA.

The NATO strategy for Afghanistan will be discussed during the NATO summit in Chicago in May, said Sarts. The current NATO military operation in Afghanistan will conclude in 2014, and NATO must consider ways to ensure sustainable security in Afghanistan. One is to ensure that security forces established and developed in Afghanistan in collaboration with NATO are able to perform their functions, explained Sarts.

This requires funding, the total amount of which could reach USD 4 billion a year. Latvia could contribute USD 0.5 million.

Commenting Latvia's further involvement, Sarts said that this would have to be considered in context of the upcoming NATO summit. The military involvement will be scaled down, and Sarts hopes that it will eventually give way to civilian contribution and development of business opportunities.

As for downsizing the number of soldiers serving in Afghanistan, a decision has been taken in principle to gradually reduce the presence of NATO troops in Afghanistan, however, the pace of the reduction will depend on the situation in Afghanistan, added Sarts.