Chaired by the Polish Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak, a videoconference of the Visegrad Four Defence Ministers took place on Monday under the auspices of the Polish Presidency running from July earlier this year. Deputy Minister for Defence Policy and Strategy Jan Havránek represented the Czech Republic in the session.
The participants of the videoconference first deliberated current NATO and EU agenda. The V4 concurred on the need to coordinate on strategic debates on the future endeavours of both organisations, whether it be the NATO Reflection Process or the development of the EU Strategic Compass.
Minister Błaszczak then introduced the Action Plan of the Visegrad Four Defence Cooperation, which will serve as a roadmap for the next two years. The V4 common activities will expand with the cooperation in the domain of cyber defence and among territorial forces, and a higher priority will newly be attached to so-called disruptive technologies.
Longterm projects will however not be left aside. The next Visegrad Four European Union Battle Group will soon start to be built for standby in the first semester of 2023. Likewise, the development of the V4 Joint Logistic Support Group Headquarters is in progress. “It is our common contribution to NATO, since efficient logistics has once again turned out to be the key factor in the time of crisis,“ Deputy Minister Havránek underscored in the meeting and pointed to the yet untapped potential of crossborder cooperation among the Air Forces of the Visegrad Four countries.
At the end of the meeting, the videoconference participants also welcomed that the project of common procurement of ammunition was coming close to its successful finalisation after suffering some delay as a consequence of the ongoing pandemic.