Enabling Factors of Deepening the Visegrád 4 Defence Cooperation

Abstract

The Visegrád countries occasionally step up as a “political block” through highly visible political declarations and began to practically expand their cooperation to include defence after 2011. This has often been considered a breakthrough achievement, but the long-term strategic prospects, the “depth” of this new formation of sub-regional defence cooperation is scarcely analysed. Based on European lessons learnt, this study offers a novel qualitative analysis focusing on the V4, measuring their cooperation in the light of enabling conditions of successful defence cooperation in the period 1999–2019. Reflecting on significant shortcomings identified, the author argues that much remains to be done if the V4’s ambitious strategic plans on defence, outlined until 2032, are to be realised, particularly regarding political and technical conditions.