RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE 19 April 1999

CZECH, HUNGARIAN, POLISH MILITARY CHIEFS PREFER AIR
STRIKES TO GROUND TROOPS. The chiefs of staff of the
Czech, Hungarian, and Polish armies reaffirmed their
support for NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia at a
meeting in Karlovy Vary on 17 April, CTK reported.
General Jiri Sedivy, the head of the Czech army, said
the question of introducing NATO ground forces in
Yugoslavia is a "political" one. Hungarian army chief
Ferenc Vegh said a ground operation would be
"complicated" and dangerous from a military point of
view. Polish General Henryk Szumski also attended the
meeting. The previous day, the Defense and Foreign
Affairs Committees of the three countries' parliaments
issued a joint statement pledging their unequivocal
support for the NATO operation. Meanwhile, a poll by the
STEM polling agency found that opposition to NATO air
attacks in the Czech Republic has risen from 40 percent
to 48 percent over the last two weeks. PB

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