OREANDA-NEWS The head of the Czech Defense Ministry, Yana Chernokhova, said that Germany had abandoned the idea of deploying some of its military personnel in the Czech Republic.

At the end of the meeting of the heads of the defense Ministries of NATO countries, Chernokhova said that part of the German military personnel allocated to the NATO contingent in Slovakia could be deployed in the Czech Republic.

«The option is no longer relevant. Today (Friday) we learned that the German side has abandoned this idea», Chernokhova said.

The NATO contingent, which is planned to be deployed in Slovakia in order to strengthen the eastern flank of the alliance, is supposed to consist of: 700 German military personnel, 600 — from the Czech Republic, 400 — from the USA, 200 — from the Netherlands, 100 — from Poland and 100 — from Slovenia.

Among the military equipment that the contingent's military personnel will have will be the Patriot air defense system.

It was assumed that the division would begin its activities on March 15.