Did Czech President Petr Pavel say that the planned military logistic center in Mosnov, in the northeastern part of the Czech Republic, will serve as a base for foreign soldiers? No, it's not true: Mosnov, planned to be operational in seven years, will primarily serve the needs of the Czech army, as repeatedly stated by the Czech army and political officials. In a press briefing in Poland in March 2023, excerpts of which have recirculated on social media, Pavel talked about his upcoming visit to the Polish military airport in Rzeszow and compared its operation to Mosnov.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on May 7, 2024. The text overlaid on the video reads in Czech, translated into English by Lead Stories staff: "A base with foreign soldiers in CR?" with CR being an abbreviation for the Czech Republic. The person speaking in the video is Katerina Konecna, a Czech communist party leader and a member of the European Parliament. She says in Czech, as translated by Lead Stories staff:
Petr Pavel de facto admitted that despite initial promises about the absence of foreign troops on our territory, Mosnov can be used similarly to Polish Rzeszow, where the U.S. army has been operating long term. The worst fears of many citizens, not only from Mosnov, are beginning to come true...
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon May 13 08:34:20 2024 UTC)
Petr Pavel´s statements in the TikTok video are from a press briefing from the president's visit to Poland on March 16, 2023, broadcast by the Czech state television (archived here). In addition to meeting with Poland's top officials at the time (archived here), Petr Pavel also visited Rzeszow, a logistic hub operated jointly by the Polish and U.S. military for sending military and other material aid to Ukraine (archived here).
At the press conference, Petr Pavel briefed the press on his visit to Rzeszow scheduled for the following day. He said that such hubs could, in the future, serve as centers for shipping materials for post-war reconstruction in Ukraine or as a means for flexibly reinforcing NATO's eastern flank in the event of an attack. He compares it to Mosnov, a Czech military logistics hub being built in the northeastern part of the Czech Republic, although much smaller than Rzeszow.
The Czech Army's logistics center, Mosnov, is scheduled to be operational by 2031, according to the Armádní logistické centrum Mošnov website (archived here). Since its inception in 2022, the project has been the focus of many disinformation campaigns, including unsubstantiated claims that it will house nuclear weapons, the Czech state television broadcaster reported (archived here). The project's website clearly states that the logistics center is intended solely to provide logistical support to the Czech Army´s units or to support allied forces in transit through the Czech Republic. It also says that such support will be provided short-term, for up to 48 hours (archived here).
The website also notes that the defense cooperation agreement (archived here) that the Czech Republic signed with the U.S. in 2023 does not allow for the stationing of the U.S. military in Mosnov, as such steps must first be approved by lawmakers and the Czech government.
The top Czech officials have also reiterated that Mosnov is not meant to become a military base for combat troops of either Czech or foreign armies (archived here).
