Party leaders agree on need to increase defense spending

At a meeting on security and defense, the leaders of the ruling coalition and the opposition Pirate Party agreed on the need to increase defense spending in order to strengthen the European pillar of NATO, even at the cost of  temporarily relaxing the rules of budgetary responsibility. “In view of the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine, instability in the Middle East and growing uncertainty in relations with the United States, which is reassessing its current role in the defense of our continent, we consider it necessary for the Czech Republic and the whole of Europe to take responsibility for their own security," participants in the meeting said in a joint statement. In response to the worsening security situation the government last week approved a plan to gradually increase defense spending from 2 to 3 percent of GDP over the next five years.

The opposition ANO party and the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party refused to attend the talks. Both party leaders argue that such a meeting is meaningless since the government has already decided key issues without consulting them.