- WIADOMOŚCI
Czechia is on the slippery slope
Last year, NATO agreed to ramp up defence spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035. According to a draft budget proposal published by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Czechia is about to cut its defence spending to less than 2 percent of its GDP.
In reality, the cut means axing €900 million. The government claims it is necessary to correct misspending. Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka told reporters that „we (Czechia) had to make some cuts – not only in defence (…), if we didn’t do that, they (Czechia) would have to stop financing health care and social systems.”
If the current budget proposal were to go through, the military spending of Czechia would amount to around 1.8 percent of its GDP. Last year, all NATO members achieved at least the 2 percent target, more than a decade after it was set. Such a move puts Prague in confrontation with Washington and other NATO members. With the beginning of Trump’s 2nd term, Washington started applying more pressure on its NATO partners when it comes to military spending. The US seems to slowly move its forces away from the West and shift its interests towards other regions, like Latin America and the Indo-Pacific.
Czechia is not the only one not as eager to spend on the military. While other NATO countries achieved the 2 percent spending goal, the 5 percent one faced backlash from Spain. Similarly, Spain cannot allow itself to lower spending on social systems.
A lot of the time, achieving spending goals comes with some number gymnastics. In theory, the proposed draft budget from Czechia does spend 2.1 percent on defence. In reality, 0.34 of the 2.1 percent comes from other sectors (thus lowering it to 1.8). Prime Minister Babiš tries to treat finishing the D11 highway linking Prague to the Polish border as military spending.
Last year, Czechia agreed to the updated targets for military equipment and troops that form the basis of the alliance’s response to outside dangers, like a potential war with Russia. Its NATO commitments include a heavy mechanised brigade – arming several thousand troops with new Leopard 2A8 tanks and CV90 infantry fighting vehicles – by this year.
Czech President Petr Pavel does not agree with the government decisions on cuts. „If the budget were to be as it is currently proposed, we would be one of the few countries following the opposite trend. It would mean a significant loss of credibility for the Czech Republic as a partner and ally, not only in the eyes of our allies, but also of Ukraine.”
