Vilnius/Pabrade, Lithuania, March 1 (CTK) – The Czech military may become part of the NATO multinational forces in Lithuania and Estonia in 2018, Czech Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky said yesterday during his visit of the Czech troops who are training in Lithuania within the Training Bridge 2017 exercise.
The talks with Germany that is to lead the battlegroup based in Lithuania have almost been completed, he said.
Stropnicky said Czech soldiers might be also deployed within the NATO battleground that will operate in Estonia under Canada’s command. He said the negotiations are still underway.
In 2016, NATO decided to send multinational battalions led by U.S., British, Canadian and German troops to Poland and the Baltics due to the concerns about Russia’s territorial ambitions after its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and support to pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. The Czech military has not taken part in this action so far.
In January, U.S. troops arrived in Poland.
One month ago, Stropnicky said the Czech army would like to participate in the reinforcing of the Eastern flank of NATO as of next year, either in Estonia or Lithuania. He said yesterday that it might participate in both battlegroups.
kva/mr/rtj
