Prague, 21 Feb. Czech Republic Army Chief of Staff Karel Rehka warned in Prague on Tuesday that war in Europe is not something “unthinkable”.
“War in Europe is not unthinkable and we will not be able to face it if we do not prepare in time in times of peace,” Rehka said in a speech to members of the General Staff, reports the public news channel CT24.
The general assured that being a member of NATO is the best deterrent to reduce this probability of threat.
The Czech Republic, a former communist republic, has been part of the Atlantic Alliance since 1999 and of the European Union since 2004.
Still in the context of a hypothetical NATO conflict with Russia, Rehka estimated that Czech territory will be on the front line and that many of its nerve centers are “legitimate targets for the Russians”.
“A large part of our army will go to fight according to the defense plans of the Alliance. And our territory will be a key staging area and a base of operations, and it will be up to us, the soldiers, to do (what territory) a safe place and that it works,” added the senior Czech army officer.
Rehka warned against the use of Russian tactical weapons, which would be put into service “immediately”, and which would completely change the lives of the country’s citizens.
“Everything would be otherwise,” said the general, who asked the government “not to hide the reality from the public and to inform it”.
“It’s pure reality, something obvious to anyone dedicated to defense matters,” added the 48-year-old general.
He also called for a mobilization of additional equipment and people, as “the poorly funded long-term professional army and the active reserve are not enough”.
The Czech Republic, one of the European countries providing the most military and civilian aid to Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, abolished compulsory military service in 2004 to professionalize its army, which today numbers some 27,200 soldiers. ECE
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