Czech troops to pull out of KFOR?

Czech media reports that Czech soldiers might be pulling out of KFOR in March has ruffled feathers within the NATO alliance. “The possible departure of Czech soldiers is a very unsettling possibility,” Finnish Brigadier General Kyosti Halonen told reporters at a base near Podujevo, according to Czech news agency CTK. Czech troops to pull out of KFOR? The general warned that the Czech soldiers had a very important role because they operated along the administrative line with Serbia, with the 400 soldiers from the Czech Republic making up a quarter of the Center Formation. “We really hope that this does not happen. We would have to find a way to get by without them, but that would be a great challenge,” he said. Halonen said KFOR would have to replace the Czechs with reserves currently used for rapid reaction to potential unrest in that zone of responsibility. The Czech KFOR mission could be compromised by disagreements within the national parliament regarding the mission in Afghanistan and participation in healthcare. On Friday the Czech opposition refused to support a government proposal to extend the mandate for foreign missions by another year, because the government did not put the missions up for voting individually, and has even increased the number of soldiers in Afghanistan. The government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has depended since 2007 on the votes of several “defectors”, who, in this case, voted with the opposition, as they too want to see the return of some 100 commandos from Afghanistan. The government held an emergency session to extend the mandate of the soldiers stationed abroad by another two months, which it is entitled to do without the approval of the parliament, in the hope that a compromise solution might be reached with the “defectors” after New Year. The possibility of Czech troops leaving the mission is causing NATO planners major headaches as it does not know whether it can rely on the troops for the long-term. “We will never be a reliable partner again,” lamented one former Czech general, a veteran of the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. (FoNet archive)

Czech troops to pull out of KFOR?

The general warned that the Czech soldiers had a very important role because they operated along the administrative line with Serbia, with the 400 soldiers from the Czech Republic making up a quarter of the Center Formation.

“We really hope that this does not happen. We would have to find a way to get by without them, but that would be a great challenge,” he said.

Halonen said KFOR would have to replace the Czechs with reserves currently used for rapid reaction to potential unrest in that zone of responsibility.

The Czech KFOR mission could be compromised by disagreements within the national parliament regarding the mission in Afghanistan and participation in healthcare.

On Friday the Czech opposition refused to support a government proposal to extend the mandate for foreign missions by another year, because the government did not put the missions up for voting individually, and has even increased the number of soldiers in Afghanistan.

The government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has depended since 2007 on the votes of several “defectors”, who, in this case, voted with the opposition, as they too want to see the return of some 100 commandos from Afghanistan.

The government held an emergency session to extend the mandate of the soldiers stationed abroad by another two months, which it is entitled to do without the approval of the parliament, in the hope that a compromise solution might be reached with the “defectors” after New Year.

The possibility of Czech troops leaving the mission is causing NATO planners major headaches as it does not know whether it can rely on the troops for the long-term.

“We will never be a reliable partner again,” lamented one former Czech general, a veteran of the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.