Czech Republic Will Miss NATO Spending Target, Says Prime Minister

Lithuania’s coalition government has agreed to keep spending at least 5 percent of gross domestic product on defense, among the highest in NATO.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis speaks on the day of a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium, on June 19, 2026. Laia Ros/Reuters

The Czech Republic will miss its minimum NATO spending target again this year, according to the country’s prime minister, but will aim to hit it by 2027.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis said in a June 19 Facebook post that the previous government had not met its defense spending target of 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in four years, and “not even our government will meet 2 percent GDP for defense this year.”