The Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic is currently actively studying and analyzing the Polish project to form the Ukrainian Legion within its country. This was reported by the spokesperson of the department, Karel Capek.
Points of attention
- A volunteer Ukrainian Legion may appear in the Czech Republic, but the authorities are currently only studying this possibility.
- As of today, more than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees live in the country
- The Czech Republic is guided by Poland's experience in this matter, but has not yet made a final decision.
A volunteer Ukrainian Legion may also appear in the Czech Republic
It is important to understand that, as of today, there are more than one hundred thousand Ukrainian refugees — men aged 18 to 65 — living in the country.
According to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Czech Republic, Vito Rakušan, official Prague does not consider the scenario of forced return of Ukrainian citizens as long as temporary protection is in effect.
Despite this, the head of the Ministry of Defense Yana Chernokhov officially confirmed that her team is already studying the possibility for Ukrainians in the Czech Republic to voluntarily, without coercion and pressure, become participants in a potential military formation.
She also drew attention to the size of the Ukrainian community currently living in their country.
So it would make sense... We want to continue the training of the Ukrainian military, so why don't we also train citizens of the Czech Republic, Ukrainians by nationality, and create some kind of formation from them, Yana Chernokhova suggested.
The Czech Republic is guided by Poland's experience in this matter
According to the speaker of the Czech Ministry of Defense, Karel Čapek, the Ministry of Defense is carefully studying the Polish project from a practical and legal point of view.
The Ministry intends to collect even more important data from official Warsaw regarding the history of the formation of the Ukrainian Legion.
When we collect this information, we will consider the possibility of our involvement, — explained Capek.
The Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic also draws attention to the fact that their Armed Forces are meanwhile continuing the training of Ukrainian military personnel who are arriving from Ukraine for this purpose.
In addition, the option that Czech instructors will join the training of the Ukrainian Legion, which is being created in Poland, is being considered.
