The Visegrád Battlegroup or V4 EU Battlegroup is an
EU Battlegroup
An EU Battlegroup (EU BG) is a military unit adhering to the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) of the European Union (EU). Often based on contributions from a coalition of member states, each of the eighteen Battlegroups consists of a ba ...
led by
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, in which the other fellow
Visegrád Group
The Visegrád Group (also known as the Visegrád Four, the V4, or the European Quartet) is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The alliance aims to advance co-o ...
countries – the
Czech Republic,
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to th ...
and
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croat ...
participate. It was on standby from 1 January until 30 June 2016
and from 1 July until 31 December 2019.
It is scheduled to go on standby in the first half of 2023.
History
On 12 May 2011, Polish
Defence Minister
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...
Bogdan Klich said that Poland will lead a new EU Battlegroup of the Visegrád Group. The decision was made at the V4 defence ministers' meeting in
Levoča
Levoča (; hu, Lőcse; rue, Левоча)
is a town in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia with a population of 14,700. The town has a historic center with a well preserved town wall, a Gothic church with the highest wooden altar in the wo ...
, Slovakia, and the battlegroup became operational and was placed on standby in the first half of 2016. The ministers also agreed that the V4 militaries should hold regular exercises under the auspices of the
NATO Response Force
The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a high-readiness force comprising land, air, sea and special forces units capable of being deployed quickly. Until February 2022, when NATO activated it in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine,JAMES KITFIEL(1 ...
, with the first such exercise to be held in Poland in 2013. The battlegroup included the members of V4 and
Ukraine.
On 14 March 2014, a pact was signed on a joint military body within the European Union, in response to the
2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Re ...
. The deal involves joint military exercises, coordinated defence procurement and joint defence development of the four central European countries. In the Bratislava Declaration of 9 December 2014, the V4 stated that, considering "Russia’s aggressive actions against Ukraine (...) V4 countries will coordinate their national positions to maximise the efforts to support Ukraine", confirming Ukraine's participation in the Visegrád Battlegroup in the first half of 2016. On Polish suggestion, the V4 agreed "to form another V4 EU Battlegroup in the second semester of 2019".
The V4 are considering to keep the Battlegroup as a permanent unit after 2016, which would set a precedent. The Battlegroup is deemed the 'flagship'
of intensified future "systemic and systematic defence planning, exercises and perhaps even procurement and maintenance" amongst the V4.
In November 2018 was confirmed that the V4 Battlegroup will be reinforced by
Croatia in 2019.
Composition and equipment
The Battlegroup in 2016 consisted of around 3,700 troops:
See also
*
Czech–Slovak Battlegroup
*
Czech Republic–Russia relations
*
Hungary–Russia relations
*
Poland–Russia relations
Poland–Russia relations ( pl, Stosunki polsko-rosyjskie, russian: Российско-польские отношения) have a long and often turbulent history, dating to the late Middle Ages, when the Kingdom of Poland and Kievan Rus' and la ...
*
Russia–Slovakia relations
*
Russia–Ukraine relations
There are no diplomatic or bilateral relations between Ukraine and Russia. The two countries have been in a state of war since 24 February 2022. Following the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity in 2014, Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula was occupied by ...
*
Ukraine–European Union relations
Relations between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine are shaped through the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). Ukraine is a priority partner within the Eastern Partnership and ...
*
War in Donbass
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Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...
*
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two Nor ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Visegrad Battlegroup
Battlegroups of the European Union
Military of Hungary
Military of Poland
Military of Slovakia
Military of the Czech Republic
Military of Ukraine