Defence Minister Jaromír Zůna (for SPD) and Senator Jana Mračková Vildumetzová (ANO) announced on 3 October 2026 in Karlovy Vary a plan for a pilot course called Ochrana obyvatelstva (Protection of the Population). A military department is to be established in the Karlovy Vary Region, which, in cooperation with the Czech Technical University, would teach a course intended mainly for students of military schools.[1][2]
According to Zůna, it is a pilot project for preparing army reserve officers during university study. Graduates could serve on active duty, in the active reserve or as officers of the general reserve for states of crisis.[1][2]
The course is to last three semesters and run in parallel with university study. It is voluntary, begins in the third and ends in the fifth semester of a bachelor's programme, and is to be taught in the afternoons for four hours a week with a focus on practice. A condition of entry is completion of voluntary military exercises or basic military training ending with the military oath.[1][2]
The programme is to be launched as a pilot in the Karlovy Vary Region, and after a year, according to Zůna, interest will be evaluated. The minister assumes that the programme would be extended to other universities. Mračková Vildumetzová said that the place of teaching has not yet been determined. One option is a school building on Jan Palach embankment in Karlovy Vary, the other the Regional Innovation Centre, nearing completion next to the regional office. According to the senator, the project could be a basis for widening higher education in the region with further fields and for cooperation with the University of Defence.[1][2]
Related articles: Jaromír Zůna, Karlovy Vary Region
Chronology
- — Defence Minister Jaromír Zůna and Senator Jana Mračková Vildumetzová announced in Karlovy Vary a plan for a pilot course called Civil Protection for future reserve officers, to be taught in the Karlovy Vary Region by a military department in cooperation with the Czech Technical University in Prague. Karlovarská Drbna Deník: Karlovarský kraj
Sources
- Karlovarská Drbna — 3 October 2026
- Deník: Karlovarský kraj — 3 October 2026