Opposition TOP 09 proposes anchoring EU and NATO membership in the Czech Constitution

The opposition party TOP 09 wants to anchor the Czech Republic’s membership in the European Union and NATO in the Czech Constitution. According to the party, the country’s security and civilizational orientation toward the West must not become the subject of political experiments.

The party plans to approach all parliamentary parties for support, although it does not expect success with the governing SPD. A constitutional amendment requires 120 votes out of 200 deputies.

TOP 09 criticizes the stagnation of defence spending in this year’s budget. Compared with the proposal of the previous government, the cabinet of Andrej Babiš (ANO) cut the defence chapter by 21 billion crowns.

The Czech Republic has been part of NATO for 27 years. On Sunday, President Petr Pavel warned about the loss of trust among allies due to lower defence spending. According to him, it is not possible to benefit from security at the expense of others. Defence spending this year will amount to 154.79 billion crowns, about 1.8% of GDP, which does not meet NATO’s minimum target of 2% of GDP.