The Czech Republic is definitively not embarking on a path towards raising defence spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), said Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) today in an interview with the online daily Denik.cz.
Last year, NATO member states agreed to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035, with an additional 1.5% of GDP to be spent on related non-military investments. Babis said today that the Czech Republic was not on track to meet this target. “Our priority is the health of our fellow citizens, so that they may live long lives,” he said.
Babis also said in the interview that Ukraine was not a priority for his government, in line with the election programme of the coalition parties. The war must be resolved by US President Donald Trump with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he added.
The Czech Republic’s total defence spending should be around CZK 185 billion this year, of which CZK 30 billion will come from other parts of the budget than the Ministry of Defence. According to macroeconomic forecasts from January, the country will spend 2.07% of its GDP on defence. The government has proposed to spend CZK 154.8 billion on defence this year, while the original proposal of the previous cabinet of Petr Fiala (ODS) wanted to give CZK 21 billion more to the ministry.
Defence Minister Jaromir Zuna (SPD) said the outlook for 2027 and 2028 showed that the Czech Republic’s strategic course remains unchanged. Next year, the defence budget is expected to reach CZK 215.3 billion, rising to CZK 238.2 billion in 2028.
“He may have read some forecast, but the budget is a coalition decision,” Babis said in response today. He noted that the budget for this year is still being discussed.
According to the PM, the previous Czech cabinet kept talking about war and awarded non-transparent defence contracts. “I don’t even know how many criminal complaints are being prepared there,” he told Denik.cz.
He said the government parties had won the election with a programme aimed at improving citizens’ everyday lives, and are now acting accordingly.
Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) said at a meeting of the UN Security Council earlier this week that no army can break the will of a nation that has decided to be free. He called on Russia to stop the war and give peace a chance, not as a gesture of weakness, but of responsibility.
Babis stated that he had not consulted Macinka about the speech in advance and had not seen it. Babis considers membership of the EU and NATO to be key points of Czech foreign policy.
He said Macinka had explained to US officials that the cabinet had inherited empty coffers and wanted its defence investments to go mainly to its soldiers. The Czech Republic wants to fulfil its commitment to build a mechanised brigade and address anti-drone defence, he added.
