Chief of Staff of the Czech Army, General Petr Pavel, on Friday began a visit to Mali where Czech soldiers are deployed as part of the training mission EU EUTM.
Petr Pavel, who will become Chairman of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels in early July, will meet with the general Alfons Garcia-Vaquero, who heads the mission in Mali.
In addition to participation in the training of Malian troops who are fighting against groups of religious extremists in the north of the country, tens of Czech soldiers are in charge of keeping the headquarters of the mission and the safety of some convoys.
The visit comes with the beginning of the next generation of Czech soldiers in Mali, which will be replaced by their colleagues in the fifth unit sent to West Africa. A total of 38 Czech soldiers operate in the framework of this mission.
Present in Africa since March 2013, Czech soldiers cooperate in carrying out the mission EUTM European training and consulting local troops to fight against religious extremists in the north. The Czech Parliament adopted last October, the participation plan of the Army to foreign missions for 2015 and 2016. Afghanistan, Mali, the Sinai, the Middle East and the Balkans countries and priority areas.
In 2015, Prague has decided to spend about 41 million euros in all of these missions abroad under the supervision of NATO, the EU or the UN.
The biggest military, up to 350, is still in Afghanistan, where the Czech Republic is engaged since 2002 as part of the operation by the alliance of NATO Force Security Assistance (ISAF).
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