Prague, April 12 (CTK) – Another U.S. army convoy will pass across the Czech Republic in late May and this year, it will be joined by Czech military equipment, while a joint exercise is being planned, Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky (ANO) said on Twitter yesterday.
The U.S. troops will go from Germany to the Baltics for the exercise Saber Strike 2016. Their drive over the Czech Republic is planned for May 27-30.
Last year, a U.S. army convoy crossed twice the Czech Republic. On March 29, about 500 U.S. servicemen in 115 vehicles drove into the Czech Republic in three places.
The soldiers were returning across the Czech Republic from an exercise in the Baltics. The convoy drove through six countries. It left the Czech Republic on April 1.
It was welcomed by thousands of advocates along all of its route in the Czech Republic and there was only a minority of its opponents.
The soldiers in the Stryker armored fighting vehicles and Humvee light trucks were to demonstrate the support of the U.S. military for its European allies in NATO who felt threatened by the Russian aggressive policy in Ukraine.
This time, the convoy will be bigger, Stropnicky said, adding that the two militaries’ representatives were negotiating the details.
The U.S. soldiers are to spend the night in Vyskov, south Moravia, and perhaps also in Praslavice, north Moravia.
The Czech military is to join the convoy as an accompanying force, Stropnicky said.
“Our soldiers are to accompany the convoy as a part of the exercise,” he added.
“Like in the past, I presume that the military police will assist again,” Staropnicky said.
Stropnicky said the convoy might return across the Czech Republic, too.
The second U.S. convoy drove across the Czech Republic last September. It was going to the exercise NATO Brave Warrior in three columns in Hungary between September 9 and 14.
The convoy was made up of 550 soldiers, 150 vehicles and 54 semi-trailers.
A part of the convoy then returned across the Czech Republic to its home bases on October 26.
