Mark Rutte’s brief visit to the Czech capital on Thursday was only announced, by NATO, one day before the secretary general touched down for talks with Andrej Babiš.
Czech President Petr Pavel told journalists that Mr. Rutte’s visit suggested there was a “problem” with Prague that the head of the alliance wanted to iron out.
Unsurprisingly, the NATO chief gave no hint of dischord when he and Mr. Babiš appeared before the media.
Petr Pavel|Photo: Zuzana Jarolímková, iROZHLAS.cz
“Since joining NATO in 1999, Czechia has been a committed ally, making important contributions to our shared security. Your troops serve in NATO’s land force in Slovakia, and Latvia and Lithuania. You contribute to KFOR, NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. And your jets have been part of NATO air policing, including to Iceland last year. All this shows Czechia takes its membership of NATO seriously – and is committed to collective defence.”
But the extent of Czechia’s commitment may be the “problem” that President Pavel was alluding to before Thursday’s talks.
The head of state has questioned the Babiš government’s decision to reduce defence spending this year, as has the US ambassador to Prague.
That move means Czechia will not reach a 2014 commitment to invest 2 percent of GDP in defence. And a more recent pledge to spend 5 percent of GDP to that end by 2035 remains a rather abstract target for now.
Mark Rutte and Andrej Babiš|Photo: Tomas Tkacik, SOPA / Sipa Press / Profimedia
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said, however, that his government regarded the country’s defence capabilities and commitments as important.
“Every country has different GDP, nominally. But we will definitely do all we can to ensure that we fulfill those obligations.”
For his part, Mr. Rutte said defence spending came up at each and every visit he made to a NATO ally – and that such investment also delivered greater prosperity to the alliance’s members.
“Increasing defense spending is essential, so that we have the forces, the resources and the capabilities to keep our people safe. And we know – and this is true for all allies – there are difficult debates on designing budgets and allocating more funding for defense. But in the end, security is the foundation of prosperity, and when there is insecurity societies and economies suffer.”
Whether the NATO secretary general succeeded in winning Mr. Babiš over with his arguments won’t be clear until the 2027 Czech state budget is announced. In the meantime the two will meet again in Ankara at July’s alliance summit.