The Defence State Secretaries of the V4 countries discussed opportunities for defence cooperation at their two-day meeting in Gdansk, Poland.

Tamás Vargha, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence told Hungarian News Agency MTI on the phone that the meeting had started a brainstorming process concerning the potential capabilities and fields where the four Visegrád countries – Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary – can cooperate. By way of example, the State Secretary highlighted the areas of “helicopter capability”, pilot training, logistic cooperation, individual equipment and CBRN defence capability.

State Secretary Vargha pointed out that the V4 cooperation had been going on for more than two decades. Originally formed with a political purpose, this alliance now involves defence cooperation to an increasing extent. In this regard he noted that after it arose in 2008, the economic crisis forced the NATO member states – including the United States of America and the Visegrád Four countries – to reduce their defence budgets.

Consequently, “cooperation becomes even more important in times of crisis”, he said, adding that there are some capabilities which a country is either unable or unwilling to sustain because, as he noted, they are very expensive, for instance. However, the costs can be significantly reduced if countries start cooperating already in the planning phase of the implementation of various military technology and defence development projects, Tamás Vargha stressed.

The tasks of the next presidency were also on the agenda of the meeting. Hungary will take over the presidency of the V4 group from Poland in four months, as of 1 July. The partners discussed the preparations for the EU Battle Group which the V4 countries will set up by January 1, 2016,

Tamás Vargha also told MTI that next week the V4 countries would meet at Prime Ministers and Defence Ministers level in Warsaw to discuss the establishment of the EU Battle Group together with the countries of the Weimar cooperation, namely Germany and France in addition to Poland. This meeting, however, will address not only defence issues but also a cooperation involving several areas, focusing on the topic of Europe’s future.

(MoD Press Office)