Prague, May 23 (CTK) – A U.S. army convoy, comprising some 400 vehicles and 1,000 troops, will move across the Czech Republic and then continue across Poland to an exercise in the Baltics next week, Jakub Fajnor, from the Defence Ministry press department, told journalists on Wednesday.
The U.S. convoy will drive across the Czech Republic in two groups, but both will be divided into smaller units for the sake of fluency of transport.
The move is planned for May 29 to June 1.
In the past three years, several U.S. army convoys have crossed the Czech Republic. The first provoked protests by NATO opponents, but the U.S. soldiers were largely welcomed by thousands of people on their journey.
The convoy will be part of the exercise Saber Strike 2018.
Defence Minister Karla Slechtova (ANO) said the passage was a show of the fulfilment of Czech allied commitments.
“It allows our troops to train in practice the activities associated with logistics and escort,” she added.
Fajnor said the exercise was one of the activities with which NATO reacted to the development of the security environment in the world, “demonstrating its cohesion, the solidity of the Transatlantic links and the preparedness of NATO members for collective defence.”
The convoy is to comprise roughly 400 vehicles and 1000 soldiers from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment based in the German town Vilseck.
The first part will drive across the Rozvadov Czech-German border crossing in the evening of May 29, continuing on the D5 motorway and to the barracks in Stara Boleslav, central Bohemia, where the soldiers will spend the night.
On the next day, the convoy will continue along the D10 and D11 motorways and the 33 (E67) road to the Nachod Czech-Polish border crossing.
It will be divided into seven parts.
The second part of the convoy will reach Rozvadov in the evening of May 31. It will also spend the night in Stara Boleslav and in the morning set out for Nachod. It will be divided into ten parts.
The U.S. troops will be escorted by the Czech military police and the regular police.
