NATO Opens WMD Response Center in Czech Republic

NATO opened an operations center in the Czech Republic on Thursday to analyze WMD-related threats and to train soldiers to respond to emergencies involving weapons of mass destruction, the Xinhua News Agency reported (see GSN, Nov. 2)

The Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Center of Excellence would be staffed by 50 international military experts to formulate security strategy, train soldiers, carry out disaster response drills and provide consulting services, said center director Radomir Mikes.

The Czech News Agency said that NATO runs 16 similar centers focusing on different areas.  Personnel at the new center originated in NATO countries including Germany, Italy, Slovenia and the United Kingdom.

Czech Chief of Staff Vlastimil Picek said the Czech Republic was selected to host the center because of its history of deploying CW response teams (see GSN, July 31).

“Germany and Canada were our big competitors.  The Czech Republic was mainly selected over the long-term tradition of chemical units in our territory and their successes during the deployment, for instance, in the Persian Gulf” (Xinhua News Agency/China View, Nov. 22).

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