Nečas: Czechs to observe their NATO obligations

Prague, Sept 7 (CTK) - The Czech Republic will observe all the obligations it has to NATO, including its military presence in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Petr Necas told journalists after meeting NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen today.

Rasmussen said the Czech Republic could save money if it joined the project of sharing of military budgets of NATO's members.

He said he believes the allies may approve multinational projects prepared by defence ministers of the member states at the NATO summit in Chicago in May 2012.

For the Czech government, the lowering of the budget deficit is the priority, Necas told Rasmussen.

Although the Czech Republic does not spend on military affairs as much as NATO would like it to do, it still wants to fulfil its allied obligations, Necas said.

The government will not take any "rash steps" that might arise from a pressure on a rapid withdrawal from the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, Necas said.

NATO members will be able to cooperate with the project of sharing of military capabilities, Rasmussen said, adding that this would save their money.

Czechs might considerably help the alliance in the sphere of logistics, he added.

The sharing means not only joint purchases of sophisticated, expensive military equipment, but also cooperation in the training and education of soldiers and the acquisition of military equipment, Rasmussen said.

Speaking of Libya, Rassmussen said NATO has no information on where its overthrown leader Muammar Gaddafi currently was.

Libyan rebel forces are trying to prevent him from possible fleeing abroad.

NATO's successful operation in Libya was a positive experience because "the European allies have taken the lead," Rasmussen said.

But Libya has also shown that "European allies are lacking a number of critical military capabilities, in particular when it comes to intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance," Rasmussen said.

He said it showed "the dependence on assets provided by the United States."

Rasmussen said he hoped the relations between Turkey, a NATO member, and Israel would calm down.

The relations between the two countries worsened last year after Israeli forces killed several Turks on an ship carrying aid and trying to break Israel's blockage for Gaza.

On Tuesday, Turkey announced it stopped arms trade with Israel and reinforced its naval guards in the eastern Mediterranean.

Rasmussen also met Czech Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg in Prague.

Rasmussen and Vondra talked about the Czech military budget.

Vondra said due to marked budget cuts only 1.3 percent of the Czech gross domestic product goes to defence, instead of 2 percent of GDP promised by the Czech Republic two years ago.

He said Rasmussen understood the need to stabilise public finances and cut the budget expenditures.

If the defence budget formed less than 1 percent of GDP, the Czech Republic would probably not be able to meet its commitments.

"We are aware of our commitments, we meet them and we will meet them," Vondra said.

All European countries must more cooperate in defence and more specialise their national militaries, he said.

In July, Rasmussen wrote a letter to NATO defence ministers warning them that cuts in their defence budgets should not threaten NATO's functioning.