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V4 countries to offer again joint battlegroup to EU

Xinhua, December 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Visegrad Four (V4) countries will again offer their joint battle group to EU in 2019, said Slovak defense ministry state secretary Milos Koterec after talks among defense ministers of the V4 countries here on Thursday.

Czech defense minister Martin Stropnicky said the Czech Republic had been preparing for the participation in the battle group for two years, and it would send more than 800 soldiers to it, including signallers, combat engineers and special forces. He said the battlegroup was put together to cover the whole spectrum of military needs.

Hungarian Defence Minister Istvan Simicsko said the whole contingent would be comprised of over 3,300 troops and its strongest share will be Polish troops.

Hungary will deploy more than 600 troops, including combat engineers, logistics experts and special force troops. Slovakia will send mainly a mechanised unit and a unit specialised in radiation, chemical and biological protection.

Stropnicky said that the battlegroup had never been used as yet and that it would be a reserve force on alert.

The V4 countries consist of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia. Endit