Afghanistan: NATO wants more Czech soldiers deployed in Afghanistan

FOCUS Information Agency - NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe James Stavridis visited Prague on Monday to ask for more Czech soldiers to be deployed in Afghanistan and Czech experts to train Afghan security forces, Xinhua News Agency informed.

During a meeting with Czech chief of staff Vlastimil Picek, Stavridis wanted to know how the Czech military could participate in the training if parliament would not approve the planned raising of the number of Czech soldiers.

Up to now, lower house of Czech parliament approved dispatching up to 535 soldiers in this troubled part of the world this year. But there is strong opposition against raising this number among policymakers. In the beginning of March, another NATO leader, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen asked the Czech Republic to send 32 military medics and 19 air force instructors to Afghanistan.

Stavridis is expected to meet Czech President vaclav Klaus Tuesday.

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