Czech Communist Party wants to block NATO troop rotation
iDNES.cz. reports that the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia [Czech Republic] (KSCM) wants to block the planned rotation of NATO troops in the Baltic countries.
The KSCM believes that the presence of Czech servicemen in the Baltic countries will contribute to the deterioration of relations with Russia.
"[It will be] demonstrating power on the borders of the Baltic countries and Russia, increasing tensions in the region, and complicating the relationship between Russia and the rest of Europe," said Alexander Černý, Vice-Chairman of the Czech Parliamentary Committee on Defense.
The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel, called such requests by the KSCM to be "extremely harmful." According to Pavel, not sending Czech soldiers to the Baltics will greatly undermine the relations of the Czech Republic not only with its Eastern allies, but also with NATO. The General also noted that NATO strengthened its military presence in the Baltic States in 2016 as a result of Russian aggression in the Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
"The battalions operating in the Baltics are not increasing their capacities; it is just a fact that soldiers from the North Atlantic Alliance countries alternate, and now [it is time for the] Czechs," Petr Pavel stated.