The Czech Republic and Slovakia want to more cooperate in defence, for instance, in the purchases of military vehicles and ammunition production, which might lower prices, Slovak PM Peter Pellegrini said after a joint meeting of both countries' governments.
In the sphere of defence, representatives of both countries talked about the possibility of reciprocal purchases as well as joint projects, Pellegrini (Smer-Social Democracy, Smer-SD) said.
"We would like to cooperate in joint projects of the upgrading of tanks. New armoured personnel carriers will have to be purchased as well. We must reach an agreement on how we will proceed," Pellegrini said. Purchases of further military vehicles are being planned as well, he added.
Joint purchases are advantageous as they may lower prices. "If we two buy something together, we will manage to negotiate a better price for the Czech Republic and Slovakia," Pellegrini noted.
In a joint statement released on the Internet, Pellegrini and his Czech counterpart Andrej Babis (ANO) highlighted the high level of cooperation between the Czech and Slovak armed forces.
Cooperation in armament may be also expanded to cover the whole Visegrad Four (V4) group, comprised of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, they added.
"In the context of the upcoming Czech assumption of the command at the end of 2020, there is an opportunity for Czech and Slovak soldiers to serve in the EU training mission in Mali focused on fighting terrorism and tackling illegal migrants in the place of origin," the statement says.
Apart from defence, both countries' ministers discussed the lack of healthcare personnel, the possibility to provide health care in the border areas for patients from both countries as well as the preparedness of the Czech Republic and Slovakia for winter gas supplies to households and both countries' tax systems.
Pellegrini and Babis also mentioned that there had been little time for a joint Czech-Slovak government meeting that could have lasted longer than one day.
