The British defence secretary, George Robertson, has said that the Czech armed forces still have a formidable programme to complete, if they are to meet NATO standards by the time they join the alliance next April.

Mr Robertson, who is visiting the Czech Republic, said increasing the proportion of professional soldiers was a priority and there was still a lot of old Soviet equipment that had to be replaced.

Mr Robertson said Britain had prepared an ambitiuos programme to assist the Czech army with such tasks as language courses and training exercises.