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Senators endorsed mandate for foreign missions and training of Ukrainians

Ministry of Defence & Armed Forces of the Czech Republic

9.11.2023
Author: by editorial staff, photo by senat.cz

The Senate plenary session endorsed the proposal for the deployment of forces and assets of the Ministry of Defence in foreign operations and the stay of other states' armed forces in the territory of the Czech Republic for this and the following year. A total of 71 Senators voted in favour of the motion, one against it.

According to the Minister of Defence, the motion effectively continues previous mandates and reacts to current needs. "It is a high priority to prepare such conditions that the training of Ukrainian service members can continue both in the territory of the Czech Republic and in other countries," said the Minister of Defence Jana Černochová in her exposé.

The current mandate expires on 31 December 2023. The endorsed motion extends the stay of the service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, EU Member States and NATO nations by one year, until 31 December 2024.

The number of service members does not change; it still contains the maximum of 800 personnel at any one time. However, the new mandate also includes instructors from NATO nations for training outside the framework of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine). The training shall still be organised in several tours based on specific requests of the Ukrainian side, which does not represent a continuous presence of foreign service personnel in the territory of the Czech Republic.

"So far, we have trained approximately 2,700 Ukrainian service members in the Czech Republic and our instructors in Poland trained an additional 500," said the Minister and added that the Ukrainian experience from the frontline also benefits the training of Czech units.

As for Czech service members abroad, the number of personnel deployed into some of the current missions shall increase. This is the case of the training of Ukrainian service members as part of EUMAM Ukraine (from 55 to 70 persons), the EU Operation ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina (from 8 to 12 persons) and the EU operation IRINI in the Mediterranean (from 5 to 10 persons). The new mandate also includes the possibility for Czech Armed Forces instructors to become involved in training Ukrainian service members in the NATO territory outside EUMAM Ukraine.

The new mandate currently does not include an extension of the Czech presence in Niger in 2024 due to the situation in the country after the July coup. If conditions once again become suitable for the continuation of training and mentoring of Nigerian forces, the Minister shall put forward a dedicated proposal to the Government.

The amount of financial resources necessary for the proposed deployments abroad is CZK 24 million in 2023 and CZK 114 million in 2024. Expenditures related to the stay of service members of other countries in the Czech Republic, specifically for the training of Ukrainian personnel, are estimated at CZK 252 million in 2024.