Ukraine will be invited to Visegrad Battlegroup
KYIV, April 18 /UKRINFORM/. Ukraine will be invited to join the battle group created by the Visegrad Four (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary).
Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Poland, Mieczyslaw Cieniuch disclosed this at a press conference in Sopot after a meeting of heads of the national general staffs of the Four. This information was also confirmed to UKRINFORM at the Polish defense ministry.
"The provisions stipulate that countries outside the EU can work with this type of formations. I am convinced that Ukraine can make offers that will be of interest to Visegrad Battlegroup," Cieniuch said. He added that this issue would be discussed on the second day of the meeting of chiefs of general staffs, when Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zamana joins them.
As UKRINFORM learned from Poland's defense ministry, military cooperation with Ukraine, which must be discussed in Sopot at the level of the five countries' general staffs, may include several topics. "It is planned to focus on the development of the EU's Visegrad Battlegroup formula. Other essential elements of cooperation may be also the development of cross-border ties, control of airspace, probation of officers at the headquarters of the Visegrad group member-countries, joint military exercises, language and professional training," the Polish defense ministry stressed.
According to Cieniuch, the battle group will consist of 1.5-3 thousand troops. He says it will include different components of the forces to be able to perform tasks also at sea and in the air.
The initiative to create Visegrad Battlegroup was set forth in 2007. It has been agreed that Poland will be responsible for preparing the main component of the group, the Czech Republic for medical and logistical components, Hungary for the engineering component, and Slovakia for protection against weapons of mass destruction. It is planned that the group will be subordinate to the EU authorities and involved in EU's crisis response operations or missions.
