NO LONGER IN THE SHADOW: The Rise of Czech-German Defence Cooperation/ UZ NE VE STINU: Narust cesko-nemecke obranne spoluprace

The article explores the driving forces behind the increase in Czech-German defence cooperation since the mid-2010s. We argue that the growth is due to several factors: Germany's more active role in European security, an upgrade of the political framework of Czech-German relations and the Czech Republic's need to modernise its armed forces. Further enhancement of relations was hindered by underdeveloped cooperation within the defence industry. The war in Ukraine has broken through this 'glass ceiling', and the quality of Czech-German defence cooperation is increasing. Keywords Czech Republic; Germany; defence cooperation; war in Ukraine. Clanek zkouma hlavni sily, ktere staly za narustem intenzity cesko-nemecke obranne spoluprace priblizne od roku 2014. Vzestup vysvetlujeme soubehem nekolika faktoru: aktivizovanou roli Nemecka v otazkach evropske bezpecnosti, posilnenim politickeho ramce cesko-nemeckych vztahu a potrebou Ceske republiky modernizovat sve ozbrojene sily. Dalsi prohloubeni vztahu bylo znemoznovano nedostatecne rozvinutou spolupraci na poli obranneho prumyslu. Valka na Ukrajine vsak tento "skleneny strop" rozbila a cesko-nemecka obranna spoluprace se tak posouva na kvalitativne vyssi uroven. Klicova slova Ceska republika; Nemecko; obranna spoluprace; valka na Ukrajine.