SECURITY DIPLOMACY, POLICY-MAKING AND PLANNING IN POST-COLD WAR PRAGUE by Karel Tesar 1 HARMONIE PAPER 12 Security Diplomacy, Policy-Making and Planning in Post-Cold War Prague / by Karel Tesar Karel Tesar is a Senior Assistant in the Department of Social Sciences at the Military Academy in Brno, the Czech Republic, where he has worked since 1995. He is a graduate of the faculty of Philosophy at the Masaryk University of Brno; and he has also studied at the Graduate School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom). In 1998 he was co-author of a book on the Czech Republic's security policy. This monograph is the product of research done in 1998-99, during his tenure of a Volkswagen-funded European Fellowship. The author thanks the Centre for European Security Studies (CESS) for support. He is particularly grateful to Joost Herman for guidance and assistance throughout his Fellowship period; and to David Greenwood for editing his text for publication. The usual disclaimers apply. Copyright © 2000 by CESS All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. First published in April 2000 by The Centre of European Security Studies (CESS) Lutkenieuwstraat 31 A 9712 AW Groningen The Netherlands Director: Peter Volten Research Director: David Greenwood ISBN 90 76301 13 1 The Centre for European Security Studies is an independent and non-profit foundation engaged in research, education and training on foreign policy and security affairs affecting the whole of Europe. A key mission is to promote democratic structures and decision-making procedures in this field, especially throughout Central and Eastern Europe where it works to support those organisations and individuals striving to establish civil societies under the rule of law. By facilitating a comprehensive process of learning, it aims to contribute to mutual understanding on all security matters, thus helping to build a stable all-European order. This publication is made possible by the generous support of the Volkswagen Foundation for the European Fellowship Programme. 2 FOREWORD By Peter Volten When the Centre for European Security Studies (CESS) first approached the Volkswagen Foundation to seek funding for our European Fellowship Programme (EFP), we stressed two features of our scheme. One was the opportunity we wished to provide: for scholars from Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to examine an aspect of their own nation's transition in the defence field, under our professional supervision and with a period of 'study abroad' in the Netherlands. The other was the results we could expect: authoritative, original research on civil-military relations and security policy-making in CEECs œ the two themes on which we decided the EFP should focus œ and hence valuable additions to an English-language literature on these subjects which had been dominated hitherto by general (and often superficial) essays by Western analysts. In terms of these aims, the programme succeeded beyond our expectations. Some 25 fellows took part in it and most have seen their work published in this monograph series or elsewhere. For this success I have to thank all those members of my staff involved in the exercise. In particular, I must mention EFP Co-ordinator Sipke de Hoop, who was responsible for the selection of Fellows and overall management of the programme from early 1997; Joost Herman, who fulfilled this role at the start of the venture in 1996/97; and our administrators œ Elena Herman and, later, Joke Venema œ who provided office support for everyone and much practical help to the Fellows themselves. Coming from CEECs, our Fellows faced the formidable challenge of writing-up their research in English, which for each of them was a second language (or even a third). All rose to this challenge, some impressively. Not surprisingly, however, their final submissions required careful editing prior to publication. The lion's share of this work has fallen to David Greenwood, Research Director at CESS. To him we owe a substantial debt for the effort he has expended in 'helping authors to say what it is they have to say' (in his own formulation). Thanks are also due to Sergei Malkin œ and, latterly, Elzaline Schraa œ for undertaking the final preparation of copy for our printer. One last debt of gratitude I must acknowledge is to the Volkswagen Foundation, for providing the academic venture capital that made our programme possible. This was a courageous investment; but it has yielded regular dividends, of which this volume is the latest example. Indeed, Karel Tesar's account of Prague's post-Cold War decision-making for Czechoslovakia until 1993 and the Czech Republic thereafter is one of the most impressive EFP studies. The author provides a meticulous record of how Security Policy evolved in the 1990s, from early enthusiasm for pan-European structures (like CSCE/OSCE) to later concentration on gaining early accession to NATO (even at the expense of close co-operation with neighbours). iii He also provides a thoughtful analysis of how military reorganisation and reform proceeded, in difficult political and economic conditions. In addition, the surprisingly lukewarm attitude of the Czech public to defence affairs is noted, examined and explained. Noteworthy, too, are Karel Tesar's concluding observations on 'four parameters for the security policy of the Czech Republic' in the future. These are wise judgements, rounding off a work of serious scholarship. Groningen April 2000 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................1 II. SECURITY AGENDA OF THE POST-COMMUNIST STATE: BACK TO EUROPE! (1990-1992) .........................................................................................3 1. Build-up of the Independent Security and Defence Policy ...............................3 2. International Activity: A New Security Agenda ...............................................7 3. Relations with Russia and Germany: Overcoming the Strains of the Past......19 4. Czechoslovakia on the Eve of Separation .......................................................24 III. PATH OF REALISM: TOWARD EURO-ATLANTIC STRUCTURES (1993-1996) .........................................................................................................27 1. Security Agenda of the Czech Republic..........................................................27 2. International Shifts: Farther from Visegrad Closer to Brussels? .................35 IV. THE MADRID SUMMIT: THE GOAL AND AFTER (1997-1998).................49 1. Pre-Madrid Efforts...........................................................................................49 2. Aftermath of the Madrid-Summit....................................................................58 V. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ...................................................................63 v vi Harmonie Papers No. 12 I. INTRODUCTION After the 1989 'Velvet Revolution' Czechoslovakia stood at the threshold of a new era in its history. Having toppled an oppressive totalitarian regime, the country faced the numerous challenges that newly-regained freedom and a return to democracy brought. Following the fall of the 'Iron Curtain' and the quick dissolution of the Soviet bloc, the Czechoslovak political representation was compelled to formulate new policies in the areas of security and defence and to put them into the general context of the build-up of a domestic system of parliamentary democracy and the establishment of a new foreign orientation of the state. The short period of the existence of Czech and Slovak federation ended with a split-up in 1993 and consequent forming of the successor states. On the Czech political scene, with a right-wing coalition of parties dominating, the objective of security policy became unequivocal integration of the country into the European political and security institutions, namely NATO and the European Union. Therefore, all activities in the fields of security planning and strategic preference-setting were subordinated to the achievement of this goal. In certain cases, however, such as the reform of the armed forces, the political rhetoric prevailed over concrete practical steps. With the NATO Madrid Summit in July 1997, which listed the Czech Republic in the group of countries that were offered an invitation for the first wave of the Alliance's enlargement, a new phase opened in the process of the country's transition towards a solid position in the Euro-Atlantic security architecture. This came to an end with the formal accession to NATO in March 1999, on the eve of the organisation's 50th anniversary celebrations in Washington. The aim of this study is to describe Czech security policy-making in the various stages of the post-Cold War development of the country, with a perspective for the beginning of the new century. It is necessary to bear in mind that since the beginning of existence of the Czech Republic in 1993 there has been quite a large discrepancy between the proclaimed preparedness to become a member of NATO (especially in meeting the criteria for membership spelled out by the Alliance) and the real state of such preparedness. In the late 1990s the impulse to incorporate the Czech Republic into