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Czech lawmakers on Wednesday approved a 2026 defense budget that falls short of NATO’s 2% of GDP target for defense spending, setting up a dispute between the new government and alliance expectations as the war in Ukraine continues. The vote in the lower house of Parliament allocated almost 155 billion koruna (about $7.4 billion) to the Defense Ministry, a level just over 1.7% of gross domestic product.
The lawmakers who are loyal to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’ new government approved the measure by a vote of 104-87 in the Parliament’s 200-seat chamber. The budget comes despite pressure from the United States and from Czech President Petr Pavel, who urged lawmakers to increase defense and security spending.
Under NATO guidance, members committed in 2014 to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense. NATO has also pushed for higher levels: at the 2025 Hague summit, the alliance agreed to invest 3.5% of GDP on core defense needs and an additional 1.5% on defense- and security-related spending by 2035, according to the AP report.
Babiš argued to lawmakers that his government had other priorities, including “the health of our citizens,” and said the allocation was “the maximum possible” budget given what he described as the poor state of public finances inherited from the previous government. He did not present the Defense Ministry line as meeting NATO’s target, and it was not clear whether funding labeled as defense-related but housed in other ministries would be treated as acceptable by the alliance.
Pavel, a retired army general, said the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine made it inappropriate for defense and security spending to stagnate. He told lawmakers, “Today, there is not a single justifiable reason for defense and security spending to stagnate,” and indicated the budget would ultimately proceed because it is the government’s responsibility rather than his own, the report said.
The president still has to sign the budget. Pavel has said he will do so, according to the AP, because he views the budget as the government’s business.
Babiš’ return to power came after his ANO, or YES, movement won big in an October election. His governing coalition includes two small parties—Freedom and Direct Democracy and the Motorists—whose agendas include steering the country away from supporting Ukraine and rejecting some European Union policies, the report said.
The U.S. ambassador also used the issue to press Czech compliance with alliance obligations. Nicholas Merrick told a security conference last week in Prague that, “If Czechia fails to fulfill its commitments, it impacts the entire alliance,” adding that he did not need to remind the Czechs how essential it is that allies honor commitments.
Merrick said that with the proposed defense budget, “Czechia would risk being among the lowest spenders in the alliance, and would be demonstrating negative momentum compared to peer NATO partners,” according to the AP report.