Prague, May 16 (CTK) – The ANO movement will discuss Czech military foreign missions with the Communists (KSCM) who say they will not tolerate the emerging minority government of ANO and the Social Democrats (CSSD) if the missions are reinforced, ANO deputy chairman Richard Brabec said on Wednesday.
“We are certainly ready to talk. The party leaders must clarify what was the reservation of the Communist leadership about, against which missions,” Brabec told journalists. “We want to meet the commitments made to our allies,” he added.
Prime Minister and ANO leader Andrej Babis said he expects ANO chairman Vojtech Filip to present a concrete proposal concerning the foreign missions to him.
ANO spokeswoman Lucie Kubovicova said Babis and Filip would meet on Thursday evening.
KSCM spokeswoman Helena Grofova told CTK that Filip was returning from abroad later on Wednesday. According to original information, he was to return to Prague on Thursday.
Brabec said some missions were going to end. He said some missions relied on the independent decision of the Czech Republic, while others were a long-term pledge that the government wanted to meet.
According to its draft policy statement, the planned government of ANO and the CSSD, which would rely on indirect support from the KSCM, promises to increase the number of Czech soldiers deployed within the Iraqi and Afghan missions and to contribute to the NATO armed forces in the Baltics and the rapid response forces.
Filip said last weekend the Communists cannot support a government that plans to reinforce foreign missions. The KSCM opposes the Czech membership of NATO and is against NATO missions that are not supported by the United Nations.
At present, Czech troops operate in mission in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Mali, Somalia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean. More than 400 Czech soldiers and military police officers are deployed abroad, including nine observers.
