NATO member states agreed last year that by 2035, defense spending would rise to 3.5 percent of GDP, and another 1.5 percent of GDP would be made up of related non-military investments.
Babiš said on Thursday that the government does not intend to come close to this goal. “Our priority is the health of our fellow citizens, so that they live long,” he told Deník.cz.
“The defense budget is higher by 13 billion and in relation to the GDP we reach about 2.1 percent. The coffers are empty and we need money for the people,” Babiš explained the decision.
Total defense spending should be around 185 billion crowns this year, of which 30 billion comes from other budget chapters. According to the government’s proposal, this year, defense should manage the amount of 154.79 billion crowns, the original proposal of the cabinet of Petr Fiala (ODS) wanted to allocate 21 billion more for the ministry.
Fiala: Trump will not be pleased
Fiala criticized the Prime Minister on the X network. “Does he seriously think that we will not fulfill the agreements we committed to, and others will take care of us? The Prime Minister’s embarrassing excuses probably won’t please the American president, in whose red cap he was running around here recently,” he said.
He reminded that it is American President Donald Trump who is pushing the most for the European states that are in the North Atlantic Alliance to take sufficient care of their own security and not rely on the power of the USA.
In the interview, Babiš also talked about the war in Ukraine. “I was present at the council of the willing that was held on the fourth anniversary of the start of the war, but that is not our priority. That must be resolved by Donald Trump, along with European leaders and (by the President of Ukraine) Volodymyr Zelensky,” the prime minister added.
The government refuses to increase defense spending at a time when representatives of countries neighboring the Czech Republic are warning of the danger of war.
“We are facing the danger of a war like our grandfathers experienced. The Kremlin will not back down. Awareness of danger can paralyze or mobilize. We cannot afford to be paralyzed. Passivity or reliance on others is an invitation to escalation, as is shouting that it is not our war,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said on Thursday, referring to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
