Babiš responds to US ambassador's criticism of Czech defence spending

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has said the country cannot afford defence spending on the scale of the United States, responding to criticism from US Ambassador Jacob Whitaker, who called Czechia's military budget disappointing and insufficient.

"We are not in the position of the United States, which spends 1.5 trillion dollars a year on arms — that's 31,830 billion crowns, 167 times our defence budget. We inherited an empty treasury and are now spending the maximum we can on defence — that's two percent, with an annual increase of 36 billion crowns," Babiš told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) after meeting with the ambassador.

Criticism from the US ambassador

Speaking on Friday at the Prague summit of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Whitaker sharply criticised Czechia for its inadequate military spending, calling the stagnation of the defence budget a disappointment. He said the US expects more from its allies.

"It is disappointing that Czechia has not made greater progress in meeting its Hague defence commitments," the ambassador said, adding that Czechia risks becoming one of the weakest NATO members in terms of military spending. He said he had personally delivered this message to his Czech partners.

Babiš countered that his government does not mislead its allies and speaks to them honestly. "Of course, the allies were unhappy that the previous government spent years assuring them Czechia would exceed two percent and keep increasing spending, only for it to turn out the country never even reached that two-percent mark. That's not an excuse, it's a fact," the prime minister stressed, noting that next year the country will reach the two-percent defence spending level for the first time in its history.

Okamura: the money is needed for citizens

SPD leader and Chamber of Deputies Speaker Tomio Okamura, whose party oversees the Ministry of Defence, had proposed cutting the defence budget by 7.5 billion crowns earlier this week. After coalition talks, however, there was no longer any talk of cutting defence spending.

Okamura justified the modest military spending by pointing to the need to increase payments to citizens. "Our government wants to fulfil its election promises, so we are putting more money into the pockets of Czech citizens, and we don't have the funds for a substantial increase in defence spending," he wrote in response to the American ambassador's remarks.

Opposition speaks of "treason"

Former Defence Minister and current ODS deputy Jana Černochová called the US ambassador's words "a very serious signal" to the government. "You cannot promise something to your allies while simultaneously holding back defence spending at home. The result is an erosion of trust in Czechia within NATO," she said.

Deputy and member of the parliamentary defence committee Ivan Bartoš (Pirates) called the government's approach to defence amateurish. In his view, the ambassador's talk of "disappointment" was among the mildest words he could have used. "Cutting corners where citizens could pay with their lives, as Mr Okamura is proposing, is irresponsible populism bordering on treason," Bartoš said, adding that both defence spending and support for Ukraine should only increase.

Back under the government of Petr Fiala (ODS), Czechia joined other NATO allies in committing to spend 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035. Yet the country has still never even met the older commitment to spend two percent of GDP on defence. Finance Minister Alena Schillerová (ANO) has built next year's budget around a figure that is meant to reach that two-percent mark for the first time, but the government does not plan to significantly increase spending in subsequent years, and coalition representatives have called the Hague commitment unrealistic.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz