ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the security issues confronting the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, as key players in the East-Central European security environment, an environment created by the dramatic events that have taken place in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union during the past three year. The position of a state in the international arena from the security point of view is shaped by external as well as internal conditions influencing the state’s security. The very notion of security is used today in a much broader sense than in the past. As a result of radical changes in the region during the last three years, the countries of East-Central Europe find themselves in a historically unprecedented security situation – they are suddenly beyond any clearly defined power zone. Security of all the tribes and nations inhabiting the territory of the present Czech and Slovak Republics has since ancient times been directly linked to its important position in heart of Europe.
