Defence Minister Jana Černochová welcomed Minister of Defence of Iraq Juma Inad Saadoun in her office today. They discussed the current global and regional security situation as well as cooperation on academic training and defence industry.
Minister Černochová emphasised the need for stability and prosperity in the Middle East region, for which self-reliance and independence of the Republic of Iraq is key. She also said the Czech Republic supported Iraq on a sustained basis through operational deployments and mentoring assistance by Czech instructors providing training to L-159 pilots and ground specialist personnel, law enforcement and CBRN defence specialists.
The Czech Minister expressed her support to opportunities for further cooperation with respect to the needs of Iraq and availability of our capabilities. For instance, that concerns training courses for Iraqi pilots on flight simulators in the Czech Republic. Two such courses took place last year and the Czech Republic is ready to hold such a training course for 10 pilots later this year. “We are keen to expand the cooperation on academic training, including with the Czech University of Defence,“ Minister Černochová elaborated.
The discussed subjects included the current situation in Ukraine, and Minister Černochová also introduced the Czech assistance in terms of lethal and non-lethal support and engagement of the Czech defence industry. She also highly valued the position of Iraq in the United Nations, as Iraq supported the second UN second resolution condemning the Russian invasion.
Last but not least, the discussion covered opportunities for defence industrial cooperation and support to Czech businesses in the Iraqi market. “Minister Juma Inad has visited a variety of strategic industries in the Czech Republic,“ Minister Černochová pointed out and highlighted opportunities to expand cooperation with the modernisation of equipment by the means of the VOP CZ state enterprise. Minister Juma Inad said he already the VOP CZ and CZUB Česká zbrojovka, mentioned the high quality of their products and said he had signed preliminary acquisition agreements. The senior Iraqi defence delegation then headed for Aero Vodochody to expand their familiarity with the L-39NG aircraft and will discuss an extension of the service contract for the support, maintenance, repairs and modernisation of the L-159 aircraft.
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