Early bird: According to the head of NATO, war with Russia is at the door. President Pavel fears that the Czech Republic will not even allocate 2% for defense.
Europe faces war without increased military spending, warned Rutte
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned on Thursday that alliance members could become the "next target of Russia," and called for a swift increase in defense spending to prevent wars similar to those experienced by past generations. Allies agree on increasing defense spending to 5% of GDP, the current rule being 2%. However, some countries do not even reach this limit,
Rutte made this statement in a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Berlin, where European leaders discussed a peace proposal intended to end the long-standing Russian war in Ukraine, against the backdrop of mounting pressure from the USA. “We have to be prepared, because conflicts... are no longer fought at a distance. Conflict is at our doorstep,” Rutte said according to CNN.
President Pavel expressed concerns that the Czech Republic will not even reach defense 2% of GDP this year
Due to the significant growth of the Czech GDP, the 2% GDP spending on the military, as required by NATO for its members, probably will not be met. The Czech Republic historically invested significantly less in the army and it was only with Peter Fiala's (ODS) government that it was able to meet the commitment, the Prime Minister admitted that it could happen that this year's commitment will not be fulfilled by five hundredths of a percent, and therefore the government
"I am afraid that we will not be able to fulfill the full two percent this year. It is very likely that we will not fulfill the commitment that the previous government made this year,"
