Prague, April 5 (CTK) – Some 150 Czech soldiers fulfilled all goals of a training of the protection of the state border in case of an unexpected crisis in the Brana (Gate) 2016 exercise, which aimed to check the time they need to join and reinforce the police on Tuesday, General Staff spokesman Jan Sulc has told CTK.
The day-long exercise was held on the country’s eastern border with Slovakia. The participants were mainly soldiers of the 7th mechanised brigade of the 53rd reconnaissance and electronic warfare battalion.
The soldiers used the necessary transport equipment and five Iveco vehicles.
“The times of [soldiers’] arrival at the relevant police positions were checked and their previous calculation verified,” Sulc said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky (ANO) said on Twitter the exercise has no other but a preventative and training purpose.
Since April, the Czech military has increased the number of soldiers on alert to 720 from previous 350, and another 550 troops have been deployed to reinforce the police’s preventive patrols in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Brussels a few weeks ago.
An exercise of reserve soldiers, the biggest in history, has been underway in the Libava military area, north Moravia, since early March. About 1,100 reserve soldiers are training to protect the state border and important buildings.
In March, a police exercise was held along the southern border with Austria. The participants tackled a simulated wave of refugees trying to enter the Czech Republic through border crossings as well as across the green border.
