Czechia plans to increase military personnel amid global security changes
Photo: Chief of the General Staff of Czechia Karel Řehka (flickr.com)
The Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Republic, Karel Řehka, believes that the country needs to strengthen its military by more than 7,000 troops in the coming years. This is due to the changing global security situation, Radio Prague International reports.
According to Řehka, the Czech army will need an additional 7,500 troops in the near future due to global security changes.
The Chief of the General Staff stated that it was necessary to reconsider the future direction of the army, which had been built mainly as an expeditionary force.
"We are doing everything we can within the current system and trying to resolve the problems on our side. But the truth is that to perform new tasks, we will need about 7,500 more people. This means that at the current level of staffing, the army requires an increase of approximately 14,000 people, which represents almost 60% of the current size," he said.
Řehka noted that at the beginning of last year, the Ministry of Defense had 27,826 conscript soldiers and 4,266 active reservists. However, the army consists of about 24,000 soldiers.
The Chief of Staff also pointed out that by 2030, the army will have 30,000 career soldiers and 10,000 active reservists.
Additionally, according to Řehka, NATO's new goals for capability development indicate the need for 37,500 service members to meet the requirements of collective deterrence and defense.
The threat of war between Russia and NATO countries
The intelligence services of European countries have stated that Russia is preparing for a war with NATO. For example, Danish intelligence noted that in five years Russia will be ready for a full-scale war with the Alliance.
In particular, we wrote that the Russian army is already using innovations in the production of drones against certain NATO countries.
