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The Czech prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka of the Social Democrats, says NATO has nothing to do with resolving Europe’s refugee crisis. The deputy prime minister, ANO’s Andrej Babiš, has called for the military alliance to help deal with the unprecedented situation. Mr. Sobotka said Europe itself needed to resolve the problem and that NATO’s role lay elsewhere. The leader of the third party in the coalition, Pavel Bělobrádek of the Christian Democrats said Mr. Babiš’s comments on how to respond to the refugee crisis showed he did not read government materials very often.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka will on Wednesday meet with US soldiers crossing the Czech Republic in a convoy, a Czech government spokesman said. The American troops will pass through the country between Wednesday and Monday on their way to Hungary. While in Prague on a two-day visit, Mr. Stoltenberg will also hold talks centred on NATO’s adaptation to changes in the security environment with a Czech government delegation headed by Mr. Sobotka.

Soldiers from the Czech Republic and other NATO allies, including Germany, Great Britain and the US, will take part in an international military training in the Czech Republic, which gets underway on Monday. The joint excersise of NATO units, Ample Strike 2015, will be held in Náměšť nad Oslavou in south Moravia until September 22. According to Magdalena Dvořáková of the General Staff's press department, the aim of the military training is to harmonise the activities of tactic air-force pilots and forward air controllers. For the first time this year, the Canadian air force and Austria will also participate in the exercise.

Czech Gripen fighter pilots have completed their mission guarding Icelandic airspace, returning with the planes to the Czech Republic on Friday. The journey took three-and-a-half hours and the jets refuelled during flight. Czechs have now guarded Icelandic airspace twice. The Czech military also served in similar missions in the Baltic states as a member of NATO.

Some 200 Czech personnel will take part in a NATO rapid reaction force exercise in neighboring Germany in September, the Czech Army has confirmed on its website. The operation, entitled ‘Strong Sword’ will take place from September 14 to October 2. In all, some 2,000 soldiers from several NATO countries are taking part. In a mock scenario, Strong Sword will require rapid response units to come to the “defense” of a NATO ally under Article 5.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is set to visit the Czech Republic in September. The government approved his visit on Thursday. Mr Stoltenberg, who has been invited by PM Bohuslav Sobotka, is set to come to Prague for a two-day visit on September 9. Among the main topics on his agenda will be the adaptation of NATO on the changing safety conditions, as well as NATO’s Readiness Action Plan approved at a summit in Wales last year, the government informed on its website.

More than 4,500 participants from eight nations, including the Czech Republic, are taking part in the military exercise Allied Spirit II at Hohenfels military training area in neighbouring Germany. For the first time in a NATO combined exercise, sources revealed, the Czech Army’s 7th Mechanized Brigade, under Colonel Josef Kopecký, is commanding the brigade headquarters. The script for the exercise, Colonel Josef Kopecký said, presented a modern military conflict, including hybrid elements, where an imagined European state was invaded by a regular army. The Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces General Josef Bečvář has expressed satisfaction with the Czech troops so far. Allied Spirit II began on August 4 and will continue until the 24th.

Around 1,400 Czech soldiers have started to take part in what has been dubbed the most important NATO exercise of the year. The Czech contingent, together with around 430 pieces of equipment including light armoured personnel carriers, are taking part in the Allied Spirit II exercises which will continue in Germany until the end of the month. As well as Czech forces, those from Germany, Hungary, the United States, Canada, Britain, and non-NATO partners Serbia and Georgia are taking part. The exercises are being held on training grounds between Regensburg and Nuremberg.

A US military convoy, numbering around 100 vehicles and several hundred military personnel, will likely travel through the Czech Republic and neighbouring Slovakia in September to take part in a NATO ground forces military exercise in Hungary. The news was revealed by Czech Defence Minister Martin Stropnický, who said the announcement was tentative and that full details of the transfer were still to be discussed. US troops are expected to spend less than 48 hours in all on Czech soil, after they depart a US base in Vilseck, Germany. In March of this year, a similar convoy but greater in strength, dubbed the Dragoon Ride, travelled through the Czech Republic following operations in the Baltic States.

Czech Gripen jets have begun protecting Icelandic airspace, a mission which will run until August 25. Four of the Swedish-leased jets will patrol the skies over the country while a fifth jet is being kept in reserve. Czech pilots are guarding airspace over Iceland for a second time; the Czech military also served in similar missions in the Baltic states as a member of NATO. On Wednesday, the Czechs took over duties from the Royal Canadian Air Force, whose pilots will now reportedly take part in airstrikes against the terrorist group Islamic State.