The Visegrád Cooperation is Fruitful

The two main items on the agenda of the meeting of defence ministers – which was organized by the Polish Presidency of the Visegrád Group – were the implementation of decisions made at the NATO Summit in Warsaw and continuing cooperation in the field of the European common security and defence policy. The Hungarian delegation was led by Deputy Minister Tamás Vargha.

The Visegrád partners were able to take stock of important results in both fields, while they also discussed the upcoming tasks and explored ways of further enhancing cooperation. Among others, they looked at the current state of implementing the military presence in the Baltic states, one of NATO’s assurance measures taken to strengthen the Eastern flank of the Alliance. This year the V4 countries provide a company-strong force, which is deployed in the three Baltic states in a quarterly rotation to train and exercise. The Hungarian soldiers will carry out their tasks in Estonia between July and September.

The participants of the meeting also discussed the EU Global Strategy Implementation Plan on Security and Defence, and the training of the V4 Battle Group declared to the EU, which is to be on standby in the second half of 2019. Further items on the agenda included the possibility of the V4’s establishing contact with the new US administration during the period of the Polish presidency.

In their joint statement, the Visegrád countries also emphasize the significance of threats from the south, and their support to NATO in countering these threats. In addition, Hungary has thanked its Visegrád partners for their support to handling illegal migration.

Photo: 2nd Lt. Robert Suchy (Polish Ministry of National Defence)