The Czech cabinet on Monday approved a reduced plan for military missions abroad after lawmakers rejected a proposal to increase the country's deployments in Kosovo and Afghanistan.
"The plan was approved to meet the demands of the opposition. The number of soldiers in our missions abroad has been reduced," Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
The new plan cuts the number of soldiers in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan to 480 from the originally proposed 645 and expects some 100 soldiers in the US-led mission in the same country to return home by the end of this year.
A total of 430 soldiers will operate in Kosovo within the KFOR mission, with a backup force of 120 soldiers ready in the Czech Republic.
Some 75 soldiers including pilots will guard the air space of three Baltic countries from May to August.
"I believe we will have an agreement and that the parliament will pass the revised proposal," said President Vaclav Klaus, who attended the cabinet meeting.
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