NATO chief fails to win Czech boost in Afghanistan - Summary

Prague - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen failed on Friday to win over Czechs opposed to deploying more troops in Afghanistan. Rasmussen asked leaders of the largest Czech political parties to send a 19-member air security training team and two medical clinics manned by 32 medical staff.

"I urge all allies, including the Czech Republic, to provide trainers for our training mission," Rasmussen said after meeting the party leaders in Prague.

He said the training mission was key to ending the NATO's Afghan presence. "If we are not willing to do that, then our soldiers will have to stay longer," the NATO chief said.

Rasmussen's plea was in line with a proposal recently put forward by the Czech Republic's caretaker government, which offers to deploy an extra 55 soldiers. But the plan requires approval by parliament, where it faces resistance from leftist parties.

In talks held ahead of a Czech parliamentary election scheduled for May 28-29, Rasmussen failed to persuade the Social Democratic leader, Jiri Paroubek, to contribute the additional troops.

The NATO chief's Prague visit turned into yet another setback to the alliance's efforts in Afghanistan. On February 20, the Dutch government collapsed over NATO's request to prolong that country's mission there.

Paroubek said his party does not wish to pull out the Czech troops, but opposes the contingent's expansion.

"We do not want to increase our contribution," Paroubek told reporters at a joint press conference. "I can imagine that we change the structure of our mission."

Paroubek said that military instructors could replace some of the 535 soldiers approved for Afghanistan for 2010, a proposal which Rasmussen called insufficient. "We also need additional contributions," Rasmussen said.

However, the Social Democratic leader, whose party is currently leading in the opinion polls, hinted that he could revisit his stance after the May election. "We will gladly return to this discussion sometime in the autumn," Paroubek said.

The Czech Republic currently has 466 troops serving with the NATO Afghan mission, according to the Defense Ministry's website.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312707,nato-chief-fails-to-win-czech-boost-in-afghanistan--summary.html.