On Wednesday 28th August 2019, intergovernmental session was held in Warsaw with representatives of the Czech and Polish governments. One of the members of Prime Minister Babiš’s delegation was Minister of Defence, Lubomír Metnar, who had a separate bilateral meeting with his counterpart, Mariusz Blaszczak.

Picture: Participants of the meeting of the Czech and Polish governments | MOD

„Our relations with Poland are on excellent level. We train together, contribute to the Battlegroup EU, and build the V4 logistics centre. Good relations are also proved by the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of military aviation signed today,” commented Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic Lubomír Metnar on the meeting.

It is the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of military aviation signed by the Ministers in the presence of Prime Ministers Andrej Babiš and Mateusz Morawiecki that was the main topic of the bilateral meeting. Its text is a follow-up of the agreement from 1997 and it reflects deepening of the cooperation within fulfilling commitments to NATO and tasks within the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS). It enables cross-border flights of fighter aircrafts which are fulfilling tasks within this system.

Picture: Defence Ministers Lubomír Metnar and Mariusz Blaszczak signing the intergovernmental agreement | MOD

The agreement includes many areas of cooperation

The agreement broadens the cooperation possibilities during training. It enables arranging a cross-border training area for airforce training along the border between the Czech Republic and Poland in the areas, where no intensive civil air traffic occurs, so that it is least possible disturbed. The agreement also deals with cooperation in the field of military air transport of persons and material in a military transport aircraft of the counterpart.

Another topic of the bilateral meeting was strengthening the cooperation of both defence ministries – on the military, as well as on the civil level. This means especially strengthening the structured cooperation between the 7th mechanized brigade of the ACR and the multinational division in Elblag, Poland. The Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic wants to engage the completely prepared brigade in it – after its refitting with new tracked combat vehicles, i.e. after 2025.

Picture: Defence Ministers Lubomír Metnar and Mariusz Blaszczak signing the intergovernmental agreement | MOD

Within civil bilateral cooperation the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic supports both polish projects in the field of special forces, which are integrated in the third wave of projects of the EU Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). Defence ministers also talked about possible Polish support of the Czech project in the area of electronic warfare.