Government approves army’s foreign mission’s bill

The government of Prime Minister Jan Fischer, which won a confidence vote in the lower house on Sunday, on Monday approved a bill on the Czech army’s foreign missions in 2010. The proposal envisages maintaining 550 Czech soldiers in the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo and 530 in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. The bill is expected to raise controversy in the lower house where left-wing deputies would like to see the number of troops serving in foreign missions significantly reduced. The Defence Ministry has already had to effect significant cuts after the lower house rejected the first draft proposal on the army’s foreign missions last December. The chamber of deputies is expected to vote on the bill in June.