Czech Republic

The Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, a bloc known as the Visegrad-4 (V4), decided on May 12 to form a 'battlegroup'. The goal is for the militarised bloc to be independently in place by 2016, with military exercises to be held under the watchful eye of NATO beginning in 2013. We view this development in the dual context of rising fear regarding Russia's assertiveness on the geopolitical scene and its improving relationship with Germany, and somewhat ambiguous signals from the United States with regard to its commitment to security in the region. While we do not view this as

To read the full article, please choose one of the following options: