Prague will not block the NATO summit’s decision to allocate EUR 70 billion in military aid to Ukraine annually in 2026–2027, but it will not take on any new financial commitments itself. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš made this statement before departing for the NATO summit in Ankara, according to České Noviny.
“We will, of course, not allocate funds from the Czech budget to Ukraine, since we need this money first and foremost to meet the requirement of spending two percent on defense. It stands to reason that these funds will, as before, be provided by the larger countries.”
Babiš clarified that next year the Czech Republic will increase its defense budget by CZK 36 billion to finally reach NATO’s target, which currently stands at only 1.8 percent of GDP.
At the same time, Czech President Petr Pavel expressed an opposing view on funding and called for continued discussion regarding long-term support for Kyiv. According to the president, Prague risks losing economic benefits in the future if it stops financial aid now.
“From our point of view, it would be unwise if, after four and a half years of intensively supporting Ukraine, we were to complicate our position regarding possible participation in its reconstruction by ceasing our support.”
Pavel also added that a sovereign Ukraine with a strong and well-equipped army is one of the key security guarantees for all of Europe. Despite these differences of opinion within the Czech leadership, Prague has officially confirmed that it does not intend to stand in the way of a joint NATO decision to allocate funds to Ukraine.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, media outlets had previously reported that NATO member states were unable to agree on a joint statement for the summit in Ankara, which will take place next week. In particular, disagreements arose over the duration of financial support for Ukraine and regarding projects to expand the alliance’s fuel pipelines to Eastern Europe.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.