This master thesis analyses the defense cooperation of the Visegrad group countries with specific focus on the collaboration initiatives in the defence industry sector and ongoing arms trade relations among the countries. While the Visegrad group seems a coherent and a solid group of countries, many experts on this field argue quite the contrary. Despite the common issues regarding the obsolete military force, the need for newer or modernized weapon systems and, above all, the political declarations promoting the defence industry cooperation among the group countries, there have been little steps taken apart from the promising rhetoric. The countries’ defence industries are progressively more involved in the work process of the Western defence corporations, while the political decision makers are still not really keen on genuine cooperation such as common acquisition of arms in intra-group level. While a whole set of obstacles for the deeper cooperation can be identified, foreign and security directions of the countries resemble the trade relations in the arms market. Although this matching as such does not necessarily prove that the group’s foreign and security policies solely and by itself negatively contribute to the closer defence industry cooperation, it serves as another proof how the defence industrial complex is tightly connected to one country’s foreign and security policy.
|
