The Senate gave final legislative approval at the end of May to a defense bill for amending the conscription act and making other changes in the defense field, and Pres. Petr Pavel signed it into law on June 7. The new law makes it possible for adult Czechs to volunteer for a peacetime pre-conscription that would initially require only a medical examination but that would put them at the top of the list for the draft if the security situation in the country worsened. A government decree could then be used to call them up. Army Chief of Staff Karel Řehka said in LN yesterday that the security paradigm has fundamentally changed and that a whole-of-society approach to defense is needed. This presents an unprecedentedopportunity for lawmakers, politicians, oligarchs, corporate leaders, journalists and activists to put their money where their mouth is and to prove the extent of their support for Westernvalues and liberal democracy. They can be the first to sign up for the pre-conscription.

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