Final Word from Thursday, February 12, 2026
MEP Alexandr Vondra of ODS said in a debate with Vice PM Karel Havlíček of ANO on TV Prima on Sun. that it doesn't happen to him often but that the Americans got in touch with him and said that they are concerned, seriously concerned, about the cut by the Babiš government in the defense budget. Instead of the Kč 175.8bn scheduled by the Fiala government, the ANO-led cabinet plans to spend Kč 154.8bn, up 0.3% from last year. The Americans have a great team at the embassy, Vondra said, and Amb. Nicholas Merrick and his first deputy, who is also in charge of this, are wonderful, competent people. "And I am warning you again," Vondra said to Havlíček in their support, "You're playing with fire." He repeated such words yesterday on CNN Prima News, saying that the Babiš government is jeopardizing Czech membership in Nato. This came a month after Amb. Merrick said at an event at the Reagan Library in California that Trump's way is really the only way forward and that getting those in Europe to embrace it in a holistic way is a real challenge and a big part of his job. If nothing else, he can put a check mark next to Vondra's name. [ Czech Repubic David Wisner Foundation Institute Andrej ]
Glossary of difficult words
to jeopardize - to put (someone or something) into a situation in which there is a danger of loss, harm or failure;
holistic - characterized by the belief that the parts of something are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole;
check mark - a tick; a mark used to indicate that an item in a list or text is correct or has been chosen, checked or dealt with.