Due to a worsening security situation and an underinvestment of the military sector in the past, the defense budget has been increasing year-on-year. Our ultimate goal remains the same, to reach two percent of GDP by 2024, said Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar. Successful implementation of this pledge would mean a spending increase amounting to 130 billion CZK.
The Czech Republic was fulfilling its pledge from 1999, when it joined NATO, to 2003 and once again in 2005. The current defense budget outlook doesn’t expect to meet the two percent threshold next year, as there is a planned increase to 1.19 and 1.4 percent of GDP respectively.
The defense draft budget for 2019 counts on 66.7 billion CZK which is 7.8 billion more than this year, and is also one billion more than was approved by the government earlier in June. The extra billion is supposed to cover investment development.
The ministry plans to focus on ground forces. In 2019, the ministry is expected to spend 1.4 billion CZK on infantry mobility vehicles for chemists, with additional hundreds of millions to be spent in the coming years.
