Havlíček: No increase in budget deficit to meet defence spending target

Deputy Prime Minister Karel Havlíček says the Czech government will not increase this year’s budget deficit over the country’s defence commitments, Novinky.cz reported on Tuesday. Mr. Havlíček said the cabinet would instead seek out expenditures that could be classed as defence spending in projects already approved by the ministries of health, industry and, above all, transport. He did not rule out another possible approach: the placing of such projects directly beneath the Ministry of Defence.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said on Monday that the government would do everything it could to fulfil the state’s commitment, as a NATO member, to spending 2 percent of GDP on defence.

Czech president Petr Pavel and US officials criticised the government after the 2026 state budget set defence spending below 2 percent.