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| Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš |
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has called for European spending to be redirected towards creating a continental missile defense system for Europe, instead of directing funds to Ukraine.
Babiš said in an interview with the newspaper Mladá fronta d'NES: "I think that instead of Europe giving more money to Ukraine, it should use it to create its own ballistic missile defense system. I want to raise this question at the next meeting of European leaders."
Babiš argues that it makes no sense to talk about fulfilling NATO’s commitment to allocate two percent of GDP to defense annually, without addressing the question of what exactly is behind it.
During the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7-8, Babiš announced that the Czech Republic would not allocate funds from the state budget for the project to transfer 70 billion euros annually to Kyiv for arms purchases, and that its contribution to the PURL program, through which allies finance purchases of American military equipment for Ukraine, would be "a one-time and modest contribution."
In a related context, Babiš had previously stated that the Czech Republic did not achieve spending two percent of its GDP on defense in 2025, and it appears that it will not do so in 2026 either.
This stance comes at a time when European demands are escalating to strengthen the continent’s self-defense capabilities, amid fears of a decline in the American commitment to European security, as countries such as Germany and France seek to develop joint European air defense systems, while other countries, most notably the Czech Republic, prefer to redirect spending towards strengthening European defense rather than funding the war in Ukraine.
