Prague, March 24, (dpa/GNA) – The Czech Republic, has approved the deployment of up to 650 troops to its NATO partner and neighbour, Slovakia.
The legislature’s lower house gave its backing to the proposal on Thursday. The Senate had already approved dispatching the troops, part of a multinational battlegroup being deployed to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank, as war rages in Ukraine. Slovakia shares a border of almost 100 kilometres with Ukraine.
Czech Defence Minister, Jana Cernochova, noted the symbolic significance of the deployment. The Czech Republic and Slovakia emerged peacefully from former Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993. They had a single army until then.
The cost of the deployment, which is to last until the end of June 2023, has been put at the equivalent of $23 million.
Apart from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and the Netherlands are contributing to the battle group.
GNA