PRAGUE, June 19 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic will not meet NATO's minimum defence spending target again this year, but will aim to meet it from 2027,
Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Friday.
While many allies have raised defence spending significantly in light of Russia's war against Ukraine, the Czech Republic spent less than 2% of gross domestic product under a previous government last year, despite aiming to hit the target.
Babis's government cut this year's original defence spending plan to around 1.7-1.8% of GDP but Babis had been saying he was looking for ways to meet the target. This is no longer the case, he said.
"Our government will not meet 2% of GDP for defence either," Babis said in a post on Facebook. "We have to put public finances in order first."
While cutting defence, Babis's cabinet raised spending to subsidise energy prices and to fund road building, increasing the overall budget deficit for this year from levels proposed by the previous outgoing government.
In the face of new security threats and U.S. demands for Europe to bear a larger share of responsibility for its defence, NATO has agreed to raise its minimum spending target to 5% of GDP by 2035, including 3.5% on core military spending.
"I am convinced that we will manage the 2% of GDP boundary next year. Not as a one-off and window dressing, but as part of a long-term plan," Babis said. "In the following years, we will increase defence spending responsibly and in a way that corresponds to the security situation and our commitments to allies."
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Susan Fenton)
