PM Babiš: Czechia to miss NATO spending target this year

The Czech Republic will not meet its commitment to the NATO to spend 2% of its GDP on defense this year, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced on social media. He said he is confident that Czechia will meet the 2% target from next year onward.

On Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that Czechia also failed to meet the 2% target last year, along with Albania and Slovenia.

Defence Minister Jaromír Zůna (SPD) said on Thursday during talks in Brussels that the government is working to meet its commitments on increasing defence spending. According to Zůna, Czechia will explain its previous failure to meet these commitments at the NATO summit in Ankara in July.