US envoy raps Czech Republic for lagging on defence spending

The Czech Republic must spend more on defence to meet required NATO targets, the US ambassador to NATO ​told a conference in Prague on Friday, Report informs via Reuters.

The Czech Republic ‌has so far failed under successive governments to meet even the minimum 2% NATO threshold of spending and will miss the target again ​this year before just achieving the level in 2027.

It ​has not set a clear path toward NATO's 3.5% ⁠core defence spending target for 2035, plus 1.5% on ​defence-related infrastructure, agreed at a summit in The Hague in 2025.

"It ​is disappointing to see that (the Czech Republic) has not made more progress towards meeting the Hague defence commitment," Matthew Whitaker told the International Institute ​for Strategic Studies' Prague Defence Summit.

"Unfortunately, the Czech Republic is ​trending towards the bottom of the alliance when it comes to defence ‌spending. ⁠It must remain committed to increasing defence spending.

"This has been a message I've delivered yesterday and today in person, to our friends here in Czechia."

He said the United States remained committed ​to NATO and ​defending allied ⁠territory. "But we expect our allies to step up," he said.