AUTHOR:
Vira Burdiak, Tatiana Fedorchak
ABSTRACT:
The authors argue that the Czech Republic’s integration into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has become an important factor in shaping the security system of Central and Eastern Europe and is a part of the vital interests of NATO candidate states and Washington’s policy on the European continent. The asymmetry of potentials and the lack of formation of the Czech security sector, as well as the other CEE states, allowed Washington to fill the niche of the so-called “security guarantor” and create an image of a long-term strategic partnership, strong ties between NATO and the United States who were the world leaders at the time. Guarantees of the collective security system of all members of the Alliance, according to Art. 5 of the Washington Treaty, were “attractive” to a post-communist state that distrusted its Western partners (in connection with the events of 1938 and 1968) and did not have sufficient resources and defense capabilities to build security on its own. We believe that in terms of the security policy of the Czech Republic, the partnership and cooperation with the United States in the transition phase has created the conditions and tools for the integration of the Czech Republic into the European and transatlantic security system.
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