Chech soldiers return from Kosovo
Only some 90 Czech troops from the reserve battalion keep staying in Kosovo now.Other soldiers would be deployed in Kosovo only if the security situation worsened there.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Czechs will probably withdraw from Kosovo definitively at the end of next year.
Colonel Jaroslav Kankia, deputy head of the Defence Ministry's joint operational centre, called the return of the last Czech contingent from Kosovo "a historical event." Lieutenant Colonel Martin Kavalir, commander of the 16th contingent, and his troops prepared the Czech base Sajkovac in Kosovo for the arrival of the reserve battalion troops.
At present there are 92 soldiers from the maintenance unit at the Sajkovac base. They keep it in operation and secure its defence.
If NATO asked the Czech Republic to increase its military participation in the Balkans again, members of the Czech reserve battalion could be sent to Kosovo in two weeks, Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra (Civic Democrats, ODS) said recently.
The reserve battalion will be deployed in Kosovo until mid-2011. Then it should leave this Balkan country, according to a preliminary plan.
The Czech Republic has participated in the Kosovo mission since 1999.
