Czech govt. to increase Ministry of Defence budget by billions over Ukraine

The Czech government is planning to increase the budget of the Ministry of Defence by billions of crowns this year because of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Jan Bartošek of coalition party the Christian Democrats told Czech Television. The extra resources will go toward new weapons, munitions and spare parts for military hardware.

Mr. Bartošek said that Ministry of Defence’s budget be revised upward in the first half of this year.

The minister of finance, Zbyněk Stanjura, said it was clear that government would put more money into defence. While in 2021 the state sent 1.4 percent of GDP on defence, so far this year's expenditures correspond to 1.35 percent of GDP. The current government has, however, committed to spending 2 percent of GDP on the military by 2025.