Defence and Industrial Policy in Slovakia and the Czech Republic

Our deputy director Martin Michelot co-authored the new policy paper analyzing the defence and industrial policy of Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Our deputy director Martin Michelot co-authored the new policy paper analyzing the defence and industrial policy of Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

• Under Communism, Czechoslovakia was one of the main producers of armed equipment in the Soviet bloc and was a major supplier of arms to third world countries. After the collapse of the USSR, the defence industry went through a restructuring process, in parallel with demands from and connections to these traditional export markets. This phenomenon was aggravated by the fact that the dissolution of Czechoslovakia left the Czech Republic with the vast majority of value‐ added sectors, such as aviation and electronics, while Slovakia was a victim of the loss of heavier armament production capabilities. As a consequence, in Slovakia most jobs in the defence field were lost and the sector became marginal for both the national labour market and the economy, remaining relevant only on a local level. Despite this, the number of available jobs increased due to the success of several defence companies. When informing about new acquisitions, this positive effect on employment in the region is often highlighted by the government as a key policy driver

You can access the policy paper by clicking on the PDF button on the right of this article. 

Martin Michelot
Senior Associate Research Fellow

Expertise: NATO and transatlantic security, European foreign policy and defense, French politics, elections and society, Visegrad Four and Central Europe, EU institutional issues