http://www.thenews.pl/international/artykul121008_poland-ends-lebanon-mission.html
Polish Radio December 1, 2009 Poland ends Lebanon mission After 17 years, Poland is ending its participation in the UN mission in Lebanon, with the last troops leaving the country in mid-December. Deputy Defense Stanislaw Komorowski, currently in the Middle East, said the basis for the decision to terminate their presence was the government's strategy of granting priority to NATO and the EU missions. The search for cuts in Defence Ministry expenditure was also a factor. Poland has also decided to pull out of the UN mission in Chad and in the Golan Heights. “UN missions are now in third place in terms of importance,” Minister Komorowski told reporters in Beirut. “In general, we can afford up to 3,800 troops on foreign missions at one time. Limiting involvement in the Middle East and Chad will give us the possibility of an eventual increase in our presence in other places,” he said. The UNIFIL mission is made up of just over 12,000 soldiers with Poland contributing 500. UNIFIL was strengthened following Israel's war against Hezbullah in 2006 under UN Security Council Resolution 1701. =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: rwroz...@yahoo.com or stopnato-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Daily digest option available. ==============================
