Czech Republic to provide anti-chemical troops for Athens Olympics
The Czech Republic looks set to send anti-chemical specialists to the Olympic Games in Athens this August. The government approved the plan on Wednesday, after lengthy negotiations with the Greek authorities. If parliament gives its approval, around 100 Czech soldiers will leave for Athens at the end of July, and stay there until late September, when the Paralympics come to an end.
The Czech Republic's anti-chemical specialists have gained a high reputation in recent years; Major David Tucek of the Czech Army says they earned international respect during the first Gulf War.
"Generally we can say that our chemical troops, our specialists are trained very well. I think that their first deployment was in Kuwait, they did their jobs very well. They were very well prepared for this. Generally our army is not the best in all branches and therefore the small branches like the chemical branch and let's say military hospitals are very well equipped and they are very well trained."
Security at the Olympics is expected to be extremely high, with huge numbers of people due to visit the Greek capital for the August games. Will it be difficult for the Czech specialists - used to desert operations - to deal with conditions in a crowded city? Major David Tucek again.
"About their activities in the cities, we can say that during conflict we don't just operate in the desert, we have to operate in towns, in areas with buildings. Therefore they have to be capable. This situation, in cities, between buildings is much more difficult for them but they have to be and they are capable of managing all the operations in these areas."
