Bilateral ties between Rwanda and the Czech Republic are getting stronger as the two countries’ militaries now look to strengthening their ties, says the acting defence and military spokesperson, Lt. Col. René Ngendahimana.

He said this Friday shortly after a high-level military delegation from the Czech Republic held a meeting with the Minister of Defence, James Kabarebe and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), of the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba at the Ministry for Defence headquarters, in Kigali.

The nine-member delegation, led by the Czech Republic Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces, Gen. Josef Becvar, later headed to the RDF Command and Staff College in Musanze District to officiate at a closing ceremony for the graduation of senior military officers from several countries in the region.

Lt. Col. Ngendahimana said: "The visit of the Czech Republic CGS is hinged on the existing good relations between the two countries, in general, but most especially, between the militaries of the Czech Republic and Rwanda.”

"The visit seeks to explore how the good relationship can be further enhanced. We have been cooperating in many areas especially in military training but as the world continues to advance, and as technology changes, we are looking to enhance training so as to move with changing times.”

At the Ministry of Defence, the visitors were accompanied by Malik Kalima, the Czech Republic honorary consul in Rwanda, who also told journalists that his country was keen on taking the bilateral relationship to a higher level.

"They are visiting to explore ways how we can further cooperate in defence matters, especially in training,” Kalima said.

"The Czech Republic is advanced in many areas, including medicine, and technology. There are, many other things we can benefit from the bilateral cooperation with them,” he added.

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