Final Word from Wednesday, March 18, 2026

After meeting at the Castle with Pres. Petr Pavel yesterday, PM Andrej Babiš gave two reasons for not heeding Pavel's call for higher defense spending. First, Babiš said, there's a major problem at the defense ministry, where not everything under the previous government was transparent. "There are dozens of contracts being reviewed by the Military Police and NCOZ crime squad," Babiš said. "In our view, the tenders were neither objective nor effective." Second, he said, Defense Min. Jaromír Zůna is supposed to present a revised KVA capabilities plan for the army by the end of May for determining how to spend the money. Pavel, for his part, focused in his own statement after the meeting on the 5% Nato target and warned that failing to meet the Nato commitments threatens the country's security. Pavel also used to stress the importance of efficient use of defense funding, but he no longer does. The more the Babiš government talks about reexamining defense contracts, the more Pavel talks about the percentages. [ Czech Republic Czech Armed Forces Development Concept 2035 VP SPD ANO ]