The Czech government has decided to gradually increase defense spending to 3% of gross domestic product by 2030. from the current around 2%, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said, quoted by Reuters.
The funds allocated under this item are expected to start growing by 0.2% per year from 2026, when they are expected to reach 2.2% of GDP.
Fiala announced the 3% target for the first time in an address to the nation on February 24, when he noted that the measure was necessary for the Czech Republic to respond to the new geopolitical realities in the world.
At that time, the Czech prime minister also called on Europe to use funds from frozen Russian assets for further military support for Ukraine and to ease its fiscal rules to increase defense spending.