Zagreb - The parliament on Friday gave its consent for the deployment of Croatian troops as part of the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group as well as in three peace missions in 2023 and 2024.
Those peace missions are the NATO-led KFOR in Kosovo, EU NAVFOR Somalia - Atalanta, and United Nations-run operations.
Croatia started participating in the KFOR mission in Kosovo in 2009 and since then 1,358 members of the Croatian Armed Forces have been deployed there. Currently, the 147-strong 37th contingent is there.
In 2023 and 2024, up to 160 Croatian troops will be engaged in that youngest European state.
A total of 25 troops will be in the EU NAVFOR Somalia - Atalanta mission against piracy.
As for UN peacekeeping missions, up to three Croatian Army servicemen will serve in Lebanon, up to five in the Western Sahara and up to nine in India and Pakistan.