A few hours after US and British missiles started falling on Iraq, senior Czech ministers and the prime minister met to discuss the latest dramatic developments. After Wednesday's cabinet meeting the Czech Republic's official position concerning an invasion of Iraq still seemed less than clear. With that invasion now a reality, and Czech troops stationed in Kuwait on full alert, the meeting on Thursday morning was a far more practical affair. Radio Prague's David Vaughan was at a press conference immediately after the meeting. David, to start with, was there any clarification of the Czech government's position?
Czech Interior Minister Stanislav Gross and Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik, photo: CTK
"Yes, after the various more-or-less conflicting signals being given by different ministers yesterday - with the Foreign Minister, Cyril Svoboda going so far as to say that the CR was fully behind the United States, while the Deputy Prime Minister, Pavel Rychetsky took the opposite stance and threatened to leave the government - prime minister Spidla was very firm in clarifying the Czech stance this morning. 'The Czech Republic,' he said, 'is not part of the coalition that has attacked Iraq. We don't have a mandate for that', he went on to say, and what he meant by that was that the Czech government made active participation conditional to a second UN resolution, which of course wasn't forthcoming. But he did go on to stress that the Czech Republic is part of the broader coalition that generally speaking does support the United States' stance. For example, he didn't express any opposition to the fact that the United States themselves have included the CR on their list of supporters. So the government is pretty much an ally of the US stance, but at the same time keeping the back door firmly open."
What does this mean in practical terms for the Czech troops on the ground in Kuwait?
Czech troops, photo: CTK
"Czech troops from the elite chemical weapons unit along with their colleagues from Slovakia are now on full battle alert in Kuwait, but, because the Czech Republic isn't actively part of the invasion, they're not actually going onto the battlefield. Mr Spidla, the prime minister, and defence minister Jaroslav Tvrdik stressed that this doesn't mean they'll just stand by. If called upon - there are two things that they said they would do. Firstly, in the event of a chemical attack on Kuwait itself, some kind of terrorist attack, they would help to deal with the consequences on a humanitarian basis. Secondly, and perhaps more significantly, if there is any kind of chemical attack on the territory of Iraq itself, they have a mandate to scramble within half-an-hour and to try to deal with the situation."
But will the Czech troops be on the front line?
"This is a question that I put to the defence minister just after the press conference, and he replied with a firm no".
Czech troops, photo: CTK
JAROSLAV TVRDIK: "Allied commanders consider the Czech-Slovak anti-chemical unit to be one of the best in its field. Because of this no allied commander wants to risk the destruction of this unique capacity in a direct battle situation. So our soldiers won't come under fire while they're trying to do their job."
"And defence minister Tvrdik also went on to assure the families of the Czech soldiers who are in Kuwait that they are all safe and well."
And that brings us back to the Czech Republic. What about security back at home?
"Well, the interior minister, Stanislav Gross, also took part in the meeting on Thursday morning, and he said that there was no evidence at this stage of a heightened risk of some kind of terrorist attack here in the Czech Republic. But, special security measures have been introduced, and on a small scale, the army is also helping out the Czech police, in guarding key sensitive buildings and installations."
