Already the second training conference of V4 countries took place last week in Olomouc. It was called Training, Education and Exercise Synchronisation Conference 2019.  These regular meetings coordinate collective military training of the Visegrád group countries and make it more effective.

The conference takes place twice a year and it is hosted by the chair country. At the moment it is the Czech Republic which took the one-year chairmanship from Slovak neighbours this July.  The conference was in the name of Czech Republic lead by colonel Petr Milčický, Director of the Development of Troops Training Department.   There were also present delegates of the Capacity planning section, ground forces and of the Simulation and training technology centre. Hungary, Poland and Slovakia were deputized by delegations of three officers.

Picture: A Collective photography | army.cz

The main theme of the symposium was the update of V4 states plan of collective military preparation plan until 2024. As the Visegrád group countries are counted to pillars of Central European defence policy, they organize a collective training at least once a year. This year it was the training Czech Lion 2019, the largest training of the Czech Republic Army ground forces, where almost one thousand soldiers were involved out of which one hundred and thirty from abroad, with eighty pieces of military hardware. The fight took place in garrisons in Hranice and in Přáslavice, in the Simulation and Training Technology Center in Brno and in the Libavá military area.

The next year the collective training of Visegrád countries will take place in Slovakia and it will move further again, there will be involved more soldiers, hardware and simulation technology, agreed all the delegates. " Just the sophisticated training technologies capable of virtual as well as constructive simulation of combat activity waging, supported by so called live simulation will become key points not only for mutual rehearsing of military staffs interoperability," specified colonel Milčický. Therefore, it will be in future necessary to interconnect national simulation centres within Visegrád, which will be one of discussion topics of the following spring session within Czech chairmanship.

Picture: A snapshot from the meeting | army.cz

The delegates have also agreed on further intensification of cooperation in shared education. "Through the reciprocal exchange of commanding staff in expert and career educational activities we will multiply the knowledge quota of collective use of our armies," mentioned in his appearance colonel István Reményi, Director of Training and Education department of Hungarian Armed Forces Command. The foreign delegates in their appearances also offered the Czech army an option to use exercise areas for fight in developed area the building of which is only at the beginning in our country.

Picture: The largest training of ground forces Czech Lion 2019 | army.cz

The Visegrád group was established in 1991. The main purpose of the Visegrád cooperation in time of its establishment was mutual support in collective effort to return to Euro Atlantic structures. Even after the accession to the NATO and to the European Union the V4 remains very important regional formation for the Czech Republic. The V4 is counted to pillars of our Central European policy and it is deemed to be a successful platform for further European cooperation also in defence area.