The Foreign ministers of the Visegrad Four countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) at the international security conference GLOBSEC in Bratislava on Thursday unveiled a joint declaration on bolstering their collective security and defence policy within the EU. The declaration was initiated by Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák in November.
The document represents a contribution of V4 countries to the preparations for the EU summit on defence in December. The declaration calls on boosting the efficiency and visibility of the common European defence policy, strengthening of the EU's defence capacities and the military industry, and also in related research and development. This should represent a view on creating a more efficient NATO at a time of overall cuts in defence budgets, according to Lajčák.
Christopher George
