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NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is to visit Czech Republic on Wednesday for talks expected to focus on security issues, NATO’s present day role its transformation and the Czech Republic’s contribution to the alliance. The NATO top official is expected to meet with Prime Minister Petr Nečas, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and Defense Minister Alexandr Vondra.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has criticized the Czech government for reduced military spending. According to media reports, the NATO chief sent Prime Minister Petr Nečas a letter warning that his government might not be able to fulfil its commitments to the alliance should these cuts continue in the coming years.

Czech Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra met with Admiral James Stavridis, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, in Prague on Thursday and assured him of the Czech Republic’s support for the NATO operation in Libya. Mr Vondra said Czech soldiers would not take part in the operation but the country was ready to join a humanitarian operation to help Libyan civilians. The Czech defence minister also informed the NATO official about a planned reform of the Czech military. For his part, Admiral Stavridis thanked the Czech army for taking part in NATO operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The Czech Republic will not for the present time take an active part in a NATO military operation to enforce a UN arms embargo on Libya, although it welcomes NATO involvement, Czech Defence Minister Alexander Vondra said following a NATO ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. The North Atlantic Council, NATO's decision-making body, agreed on implementing the arms embargo from the sea but stopped short of a bigger commitment. Ambassadors of the 28-nation military organisation met in Brussels to seek a compromise over a role for NATO in the international campaign amid divisions between member states.

The opposition Social Democrats have initiated a debate in the lower house of Parliament on possible Czech participation in a military operation against the Gaddafi regime, should NATO decide to take a more active role in the coming days. Social Democrat MP and lower house deputy chair Lubomir Zaoralek said the Czech Republic could offer its anti-chemical warfare specialists.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has said the Czech Republic is in favour of NATO supervising Western military operations in Libya, saying he wanted military involvement (which has been backed by the UN Security Council to try and protect Libyan civilians) to be coordinated within the NATO framework. Ambassadors from NATO countries are meeting on Sunday to discuss the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s possible role in helping enforce the no-fly zone. Saturday saw air strikes by the France, the US and the UK against forces loyal to the Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, prompting threats of a ‘long war’ from the Libyan leader. Speaking on Czech TV on Sunday, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg stressed it was not likely the Czech Republic would join in the operations presently but the minister did not rule out the country’s chemical warfare unit could be deployed.

Top military chaplains from 37 armies of NATO countries, and those affiliated with the alliance’s Partnership for Peace programme are in Prague for their annual conference. Over 80 Christian priests and ministers, together with two rabbis and an imam, will be talking about how to improve their role as ethical guides for the troops.

The Ministry of Defence has reduced the ranks of over half of soldiers currently in service. The changes were made in order to conform to the NATO ranking system, from which the Czech system differed and was a source of confusion. Three ranks were removed while another five were reinstated, in all affecting some 14,000 soldiers, or 60% of the army. A small percent also have faced wage reductions as a result of decreased rank, while nearly 800 were effectively promoted. According to the former system, soldiers of the lowest positions were entitled to ranks used elsewhere by experienced non-commissioned officers. Insignias have also been changed at a cost of several million crowns. Chief warrant officers for example previously wore three silver stars, which other NATO soldiers interpreted as the mark of a three star general.

The Czech delegation to the two-day NATO summit in Lisbon has said the country wants to be actively involved in the creation of a missile defense shield which would protect the territory of all NATO member states in Europe and North America. NATO has also invited Russia to take part, although it is not yet clear at what level. Russia’s involvement was strongly advocated, among others, by Czech President Václav Klaus. Prime Minister Petr Nečas said the Czech Republic was hoping to host an early warning centre but would welcome broader involvement, for instance in the sphere of military research.

NATO leaders also agreed on a gradual withdrawal of their military presence in Afghanistan, aiming to hand security responsibility to Afghan forces between 2011 and 2014 and to move into a more supportive role. The Czech Republic has been actively involved in the ISAF mission. In response to a US request Prague recently agreed to increase the Czech military presence in Afghanistan to 720 troops in 2011and is expected to maintain 640 troops in the country in 2012.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas, President Václav Klaus, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra are heading a Czech delegation at a two-day NATO summit that began in Lisbon on Friday. The Czech government has picked out the strategic rethink of the alliance as the major issue for discussion. Government members have insisted in the past they do not want to see any dilution of the principle of common defence as new tasks such as tackling terrorism, energy security and cyber crime are embraced. But alliance members are also expected to plot a withdrawal timetable from Afghanistan.

The meeting is also expected to push ahead with a NATO anti-missile defence shield to be established over the next 10 years. This would be a wider version of the now abandoned shield originally planned between the US, Czech Republic and Poland. The last stage of the meeting will be taken up by a summit between the alliance and Russia.