Defense Minister Denies Okamura's Claims of Hungry Soldiers

Czech Defense Minister Jan Zůna has pushed back against claims by SPD party leader Tomio Okamura that Czech soldiers go hungry at night. According to the minister, the issue isn't malnutrition but rather a generational shift among servicemen, who have different tastes and eating habits.

Earlier, following a coalition meeting, Okamura announced plans to invest in upgrading the army's equipment: soldiers will receive new uniforms made from higher-quality, lighter, "breathable" materials, along with updated camouflage. He also said meals would be improved — more meat, vegetables and fruit — since, even though nutritional standards are technically being met, soldiers allegedly often feel hungry at night and end up having to find extra food on their own.

"This isn't about hunger"

In comments to Czech media, Minister Zůna toned down these claims. "This isn't about hunger. We're responding to a generational shift. The new generation coming into the army eats differently than, say, I did. They won't eat canned food because all they see on the label is a string of 'E-numbers' — food additives," he explained.

According to the minister, the rations fully meet nutritional standards in terms of caloric and nutritional value, but young soldiers are used to a different range of foods and a different diet overall. What's more, they tend to be less accustomed to physical exertion, meaning they need to get more energy from food, and in different forms, than previous generations did.

With this in mind, Zůna has instructed the army's food service, which is responsible for feeding soldiers, to find out what kinds of food the younger generation of soldiers actually prefers. According to the minister, the army updates its food standards roughly once every 10 to 15 years, and the time has come for another overhaul. A draft of the new nutritional standard is expected to be ready by the end of this year — the minister noted that several agencies are working on it, and the process is far from simple.

A different generation, a different lifestyle

The minister pointed out that young people today differ not only in their eating habits but in their overall lifestyle. "As kids, we were constantly outside, constantly physically active — sports, fishing, jumping off haystacks. Today's youth are different: computers, IT, phones — they sit more than they run," Zůna said.

He noted that for many young people, basic military training turns out to be an unfamiliar kind of physical strain. "Day, night, three days straight without a break, sleeping under the open sky. This isn't summer camp — it's tough training," the minister said.

The claim about "starving" soldiers has drawn criticism from some servicemen — especially given that, at the same coalition meeting, the SPD party had originally demanded cutting next year's defense budget by 7.5 billion crowns, earmarked for investment projects that haven't even started yet. The ANO party and the Motorists rejected that demand. Meanwhile, the army still needs to bring its heavy and medium brigades up to full strength and strengthen air defense — commitments the Czech Republic has made to NATO — yet deliveries of combat vehicles for the army have still not begun.

Source: novinky.cz