Senate approves Mali deployment

The Czech senate has approved the deployment of around 50 Czech troops to Mali, as part of a joint European mission. According to the current plans, around thirty Czech soldiers will be sent to Mali to guard an army base, while in the second part of the mission, they will be responsible for training Mali government troops. The deployment is scheduled to last 15 months and will cost the Czech Defense Ministry 135 million crowns this year, and a similar sum in 2014.