PRAGUE (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to NATO renewed his country’s criticism of the Czech Republic on Friday, saying it had failed to spend enough on defense.
“It is disappointing to see that it has not made more progress towards meeting the Hague Defense Commitment,” Matthew Whitaker told a defense conference in Prague.
“Unfortunately, the Czech Republic is trending towards the bottom of the alliance when it comes to defense spending,” said Whitaker,
who met with populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš on Friday.
“There have been small successes, but more certainly needs to be done, and this has been a message I delivered yesterday and today in person to our friends here in the Czech Republic,” Whitaker added.
Lawmakers aligned with Babiš' government approved a budget in March that allocates less than 1.8% of the country's gross domestic product for defense this year. The approval came despite President Petr Pavel, a retired army general, urging an increase in the defense budget to meet NATO’s commitment.
Whitaker warned the Czech Republic at the time in a post on X: “All Allies must pull their weight and honor The Hague Defense Commitment. These numbers are not arbitrary. They are about meeting the moment — and the moment requires 5% as the standard. No excuses, no opt-outs. “
Responding on Friday, Babiš promised that defense spending would reach 2% of GDP next year.
NATO members agreed in 2014 to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense, and the alliance expected all members — including the Czech Republic — to meet that target last year.
At a summit in The Hague last year, NATO members, under pressure from the Trump administration, agreed to invest 3.5% of GDP on core defense requirements and an additional 1.5% on defense and security-related spending by 2035.
Babiš returned to power after his ANO, or YES, movement won a decisive victory in an October election. It formed a governing coalition with two small political groups whose agenda includes reducing support for Ukraine and rejecting some key European Union policies.
The Freedom and Direct Democracy party, which is anti-immigrant and a member of the coalition, wants to cut the defense budget for next year.
Finance Minister Alena Schillerová recently said she currently considers a 5% target to be “unrealistic.”
“The United States remains committed to NATO and defending every inch of allied territory, and the United States is not stepping back," Whitaker said on Friday. "But we expect our allies to step up and join us and equalize with the United States.”
