Prague, Nov 22 (CTK) – Czech military may provide up to 200 medical and chemical warfare officers if a ground operation were launched against Islamic State in Syria or Iraq, Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky (ANO) said yesterday, adding that the number of medical staff would be a few dozen.
At present, it is necessary to help the forces that fight against IS by supplying equipment to them and by an effective support from the air, Stropnicky said in a discussion programme on Czech Television (CT).
“I would estimate their total number at one to two hundred,” Stropnicky said about the troops Prague may be ready to provide to a possible anti-IS ground operation.
The deployment of the soldiers would require consent from the Czech cabinet, he said.
Stropnicky said the probability of a ground intervention in the Middle East has been rising, but no decision has been made yet in this respect.
Such operation poses huge risks and the big states do not feel like taking the step. It could cause the migrant wave to intensify, and also provoke terrorism in Europe, Stropnicky said.
“Those who call for a maximum support to the local units, mainly by supplies of equipment and an effective support from the air, are probably right,” he said.
A possible ground operation should involve the neighbour countries above all, Stropnicky said and pointed out that Prague has sent ammunition and grenades to the Iraqi military and the Kurdish armed forces.
According to Stropnicky, an anti-IS coalition cannot be formed without the participation of Russia.
“This is clear to everybody now,” he said.
However, Russia is neither a NATO nor EU member, which is why an ad hoc coalition and alliance of countries must be established, he added.
After a ground operation, soldiers, from U.N. peacekeeping forces, for example, would probably have to stay very long in the region, Stropnicky and his partner in the debate, opposition TOP 09 deputy chairman Marek Zenisek agreed.
The military presence in the region might have to last more than two decades, Stropnicky said.
Prague´s joining of the anti-IS military campaign is supported by over 80 percent of Czechs, according to a public opinion poll the Median agency conducted for CT on November 19-20.
Czech participation in supportive operations, such as the provision of a field hospital, is supported by 62 precent of Czechs, while 36 percent are for Prague to provide financial and logistic support.
Twenty-eight percent of the respondents said Czech participation in a possible ground operation is desirable, and 26 percent said Czech participation in an air force operation is desirable.
Only 13 percent of those polled said they do not wish any Czech participation in the fight against IS.
Stropnicky mentioned the possibility of Prague providing medical and chemical warfare officers within a ground operation against IS on Tuesday for the first time.
He reacted to the decision of France, hit by terrorist attacks, to activate the article on EU members´ help to an attacked EU state.
On Friday, the U.N. Security Council called on all countries that are capable of joining the anti-IS campaign to double and coordinate their efforts with the aim to prevent further attacks by IS militants and other extremist groups.
As its help to France, Prague may raise its contingent in the French-led EU training mission in Mali. The present 38-strong Czech unit could be raised up to 100 troops, Stropnicky said.
rtj/dr
