Prague, Jan 13 (CTK) – The Senate, the upper house of Czech parliament, approved yesterday the bills that should motivate people to join active reserve troops and allow them to voluntarily undergo military training.
The Senate also passed an amendment to the armed forces law that should enable a more flexible deployment of soldiers in the case of natural disasters as of July.
The bills are yet to be signed by President Milos Zeman into law.
The annual financial reward given to the members of the active reserve troops will be three times higher than now and these troops will have further advantages if the bill takes effect.
At present, reserve troops receive a bonus of 6000 crowns a year.
Under the new bill, they will be be paid 18,000 crowns a year on condition they participate in an exercise or are deployed in that year.
The interest in the service in reserve troops has been low in the Czech Republic for a long time.
At present, there are some 1200 reservists. The Czech military would like their number to reach 5,000. The army wants to make this kind of involvement attractive especially for students.
Members of the voluntary reserve units will receive a slightly lower reward, which the amendment also introduces. They are to be paid a 1000-crown monthly bonus, that is 12,000 crowns a year.
The army also plans to pay some contribution to the reservists’ employers.
According to the amendment to the defence law, young people over 18 years who are voluntarily drafted will undergo a three-month military training within two years.
Another novelty is that active reserves could be sent to foreign missions. So far only professional soldiers have served in them.
People whose health condition was bad and those who committed a crime or supported extremists groups would not be allowed to undergo the military training.
The current conscription law does not allow for call-ups or military training at peace time. Since 2005, everything has been voluntary and the service only concerns professional soldiers and members of active reserve units.
The government originally proposed the reintroduction of universal conscription of young men and women, but the lawmakers opposed the idea. They said the original plan was merely an administratively demanding registration of all the young men and women as it did not include any training.
Under the amendment to the law on armed forces, military units with the required number of soldiers and equipment are to be used for rescue work, for example, during floods. They are to replace small specialised units that are to be cancelled under the amendment.
The valid law demands that if there is a natural disaster, specialist rescue units should be first called up. However, they only have 200 soldiers and lack the necessary equipment, the Defence Ministry said.
The amendment also bans political rallies and election campaigns to be held in military facilities and in the activities of armed forces outside them, and it includes the text of the military oath.
($1=24.937 crowns)
