Defence ministers of the Visegrad Four countries (Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic) met for talks in Levoča (Prešov Region) on Thursday, May 12, and agreed to create a joint V4 battle group. The independent unit should be ready to begin operating from mid-2016, the TASR newswire reported.
According to Slovak Defence Minister Ľubomír Galko, global developments have shown that regional cooperation in the military sphere is gaining in importance. "We have agreed that we'll get down to building the battle group. It represents a way of modernising the individual (V4) armies, and as well as sharing our experience we'll also share the costs," said Galko.
It is unclear as yet how much the combat group will cost, or how big it will be. V4 ministers also reached a preliminary agreement that Poland – which is bigger than the other three countries combined – will be the lead nation. Slovakia currently holds the presidency of the Visegrad Four; the Czech Republic will take over at the end of next month.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
