Prague, June 29 (CTK) – Further U.S. military convoys will cross the Czech Republic on their way from Germany to the Saber Guardian exercise in Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria from today until Sunday, General Staff spokesman Jan Sulc has told CTK.
The first group will cross the Czech-German border in Rozvadov, west Bohemia, tonight and other nine groups will follow in one-hour intervals.
A total of 230 military vehicles and 900 soldiers will be transferred across the Czech Republic in three phases.
No part of the convoy is to stay in the Czech Republic for more than 48 hours, Sulc said.
U.S. soldiers will rest in the military garrison barracks in Brandys nad Labem-Stara Boleslav, central Bohemia, and Vyskov, south Moravia.
The convoys will ride in three phases on the D5, D0, D10, D1 and D2 motorways.
The first part of the route leads from Rozvadov to Stara Boleslav. The U.S. troops will leave the local garrison on around 17:00 on Friday and will be heading for Vyskov in one-hour intervals.
The first group will leave for Vyskov at 16:00 on Saturday, followed by other groups.
The U.S. troops are supposed to cross the border in Breclav, south Moravia, on Sunday morning.
Along with the previous transfer of a U.S. convoy at the end of May and the beginning of June, a total of 1600 U.S. soldiers in about 450 vehicles will cross the Czech Republic.
The military convoys are to return from Saber Guardian 2017, in which 25,000 people will participate, at the end of July and the beginning of August.
The main part of the units is to return to their military bases by train, probably outside the Czech Republic. Only some logistic support troops are likely to drive back on Czech roads, Sulc added.
Last year, a U.S. army convoy drove through the country twice.
Especially the first convoy attracted a lot of attention. Though critical voices were heard before the convoy’s arrival, the American soldiers were welcomed by thousands of Czech supporters on their way and only small numbers of their opponents appeared.
hol/dr/kva
