LJUBLJANA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia's leading newspaper Delo on Saturday criticized NATO's failure in Afghanistan and suggested that the government consider leaving "this anachronistic organization."
Slovenia would be wise to leave NATO because its money is being spent on the alliance's "failed project" in Afghanistan while domestic spending cuts are affecting pensioners, young families, culture and education, Delo said in a commentary.
The fact is that joining the alliance was the biggest and most expensive mistake of Slovenian foreign policy, Delo wrote. The newspaper said that NATO is no longer an alliance for the protection of its members and instead has become an organization that intervenes around the world.
"The current crisis is an excellent opportunity to leave this anachronistic organization, which is lost in time and space," the Delo article said.
The call for leaving NATO was made after the Slovenian government pledged to provide 500,000 U.S. dollars to Afghan security forces after NATO ends its combat operations there in 2014.
Based on the principle "in together, out together," Slovenian troops would stay in Afghanistan until the completion of the mission of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces, Prime Minister Janez Jansa said Thursday.
After 11 years of war in Afghanistan since October 2001, the U.S.-led forces recently announced plans to hand over security responsibilities to Afghan forces in 2013, and to withdraw the ISAF by the end of 2014.
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