Vystoupení ministra obrany

Vystoupení Martina Stropnického na setkání při příležitosti oslav státních svátků severských a pobaltských zemí (11. června, Praha, Novoměstská radnice).

The Nordic and Baltic countries on the one hand and the Central European countries on the other hand have always shared their security concerns. Since the 19th century, they have faced similar geopolitical pressures. All of them are rather small and have only limited resources. Moreover, they have always been squeezed between larger and more powerful neighbours to the West and to the East.

For this reason, there has always been a great deal of solidarity and sympathy between your countries and Central Europe. Today, this mutual understanding is as important as ever, given the fragile security situation in and around the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic region has again become a focal point in the unfolding confrontation between the West and Russia. A confrontation which none of us desires but which we sadly have to accept as reality. The Baltic region as a whole is right on the geopolitical fault line and it is today the most exposed region of Europe facing both traditional and unconventional military challenges on a daily basis.

In these difficult times for your countries, the unity of and solidarity between the NATO and EU countries is of utmost importance. We must not let ourselves divided and we must collectively build our defence and security capacities in order to make sure that each and every NATO and EU ally is protected and, if necessary, defended.

We stand as firm, and I hope credible, allies to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. You can count on us. Over the past year, we have contributed tangible assurance measures to boost your defences. But we also appreciate your hard work in increasing your national defence capacities. You have already achieved real progress.

The tactics of hybrid warfare can succeed only in countries with weak institutions, inefficient defence and economic troubles. None of this applies to the Baltic countries, which means that with the help of your NATO allies you can feel reasonably safe, even though rightly concerned.

We admire Estonia for your expertise in cyber defence. We have much to learn from you. We acknowledge Latvian leadership in developing NATO’s capacities in strategic communication. It is becoming a crucial area on which all of us should now focus. We appreciate Lithuania’s practical steps to boost your defence capacities such as reintroducing the mandatory military service. It was a bold step that reflects the seriousness of the current situation.

We see Denmark and Norway as key NATO allies from which we have much to learn. You have always been “role models” for us when it comes to building our reputation of responsible and reliable ally. In particular, we need to learn from your consensual way of formulating and pursuing defence policy, which we still lack in our country to some extent.

Iceland is one of NATO’s founding members and it has played a key strategic role in the history of the Alliance. It remains to do so even today. I am proud that the Czech Air Force has contributed and will contribute again to the protection of Iceland’s airspace. It is a practical example of NATO’s solidarity and the efficiency of our collective defence mechanisms.

Last but not least, a few words on Sweden and Finland. You are now as exposed as our Baltic allies, but perhaps even more vulnerable because you are outside NATO’s collective defence guarantees. However, I can assure you that we take your security very seriously as we see the entire Baltic region as one tightly interconnected security community that is an integral part of the Euro-Atlantic security system.

You know that we have been one of the strongest advocates for deepening your practical cooperation with NATO. Moreover, we have developed close and productive bilateral defence cooperation, particularly with Sweden. My Swedish colleague visited Prague in January and will visit Ostrava in September. We have a large number of bilateral cooperative projects in the pipeline. Incidentally, our team of experts travels to Sweden next week to discuss further developing our cooperation. We must also focus on increasing the intensity of our practical cooperation with Finland.