Archive: Domestic affairs | Army Army
Czech government battling opposition to US radar base
The possible stationing of a US radar base on Czech territory, as part of
an expanded US missile defense system, is causing controversy both at home
and abroad. Russia remains vehemently opposed to the plan, Austria has
called it a provocation and villages in the area where it may be located
are rallying against it.
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Czech troops set out for hot Afghan soil
The Czech Army has started rotating troops deployed as part of NATO's ISAF
mission in Afghanistan. Medical staff for the Czech field hospital flew in
Kabul at the end of July; they were followed on Friday by 91 troops of the
6th Rapid Deployment Brigade that will replace their colleagues in a
reconstruction team in the north-east of the country.
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New group wants "rockets not radars" - but are they serious?
There has been a great deal of talk in the last couple of months about US
plans to build part of its anti-missile defence shield - a radar - here in
the Czech Republic. Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek welcomes the idea,
though the Czech government has yet to reach a decision on the issue. In
the meantime, there have been a number of demonstrations against the radar
base. Now, however, a new civic group has emerged with the title "we
don't want radars, we want rockets". Is this some practical joke, or
are they
serious? That's a question I put to spokesman Martin Kotas. More
Ambassador Richard Graber - radar station does not make Czechs military target
The head of the U.S. Missile Defence Agency was in Brussels this week to
argue the case for placing part of its missile defence shield in Poland
and the Czech Republic. Lieutenant General Henry Obering said the U.S.
would press ahead with the plan, with or without the approval of America's
NATO allies. The Czech government has said yes in theory to hosting a
radar
station about 70 km from Prague, and the two sides are about to embark on
detailed talks on what is becoming a highly divisive issue. We spoke to
U.S. ambassador Richard Graber. More
Former foreign minister caught discussing corruption around military contract on hidden camera
There was a huge development in a scandal surrounding a large military
contract on Tuesday, when Swedish TV broadcast secretly made recordings of
former Czech foreign minister Jan Kavan. He says that Czech politicians
took bribes linked to a deal to purchase Gripen supersonic jets from the
British-Swedish consortium BAE Systems/Saab. In the end the Czech Republic
leased rather than bought the planes, but the allegations remain. And
suspicions of corruption have been fanned by Mr Kavan's implication that a
Czech police investigation could be influenced.
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War veterans protest "desecration" of military memorial
The National Memorial on Vitkov Hill in Prague is a structure hard to miss.
It is a severe rectangular building with no windows, accompanied by a large
statue of 15th-century Czech military commander Jan Zizka, astride his
horse, as if keeping guard over the city. Built in the 1930s, the memorial
was meant to house the remains of Czech soldiers who fought in foreign
legions on the battlefields of the First World War. A recent commercial
event in the - now scarcely used - building has prompted Czech war veteran
associations to raise their voices in protest.
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Proposed anti-terrorism centre raises issue of ineffective legislation
Earlier this week, Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan introduced plans for
the Czech Republic to establish an anti-terrorism centre. Police and
intelligence services have been advocating such a move for months, saying
that there needs to be a centralized unit in this country working to fight
terrorism. Such a centre would be charged with collecting and sorting
information about terrorism-related issues, and communicating with
partners abroad to ensure an effective exchange of information. Yet the
idea hasn't been received with much enthusiasm from leading politicians.
Jana Hybaskova, a Czech MEP, explains how she views the possibility of
establishing an anti-terrorism centre in the Czech Republic, and what
steps the country needs to take to fight terrorism effectively:
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Czech Army sends fresh contingent to Iraq as violence escalates in country
A ceremony took place at the National Memorial on Prague's Vitkov Hill on
Tuesday as the latest Czech Army contingent - the tenth to date - prepared
to leave for Iraq. The Czech soldiers, around a hundred in total, are
stationed at a British base in Shaiba in the south of the country, where
they have been training Iraqi police officers. As the soldiers bid goodbye
to family and friends, I spoke to Major General Emil Pupis, director of the
Czech Army's joint operations centre and deputy chief of staff; I began by
asking him if many of the latest group had already served in Iraq.
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