Okamura defends defence spending cut, asks why Russia would attack Czechs

The head of coalition party Freedom and Direct Democracy, Tomio Okamura, says defence spending of 2 percent this year will suffice to guarantee an effective army. Speaking in an interview for news outlet Novinky.cz published on Saturday, Mr. Okamura said there was no money available to increase expenditure on defence.

The government headed by Andrej Babiš of ANO is cutting spending on defence in 2026, despite commitments to NATO to raise such outgoings markedly.

In response to a question as to whether military spending of 2 percent would allow the country to defend itself against Russia Mr. Okamura asked why that country would attack Czechia.