The senior director of the defense policy and strategy section will represent the Ministry of Defense at the conference Jan Jireš. At that time, Černochová will be at a ministerial meeting in Brussels.
“We discussed some things that will be discussed in Munich. In particular, further aid to Ukraine, the starting points and the future of Ukraine,” remarked Černochová. According to her, Pavel will meet in Munich, among other things, with the Swedish Minister of Defense.
The minister also informed the President about the progress in the army modernization projects and about the defense budget in relation to the declared amount of two percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). In this regard, politicians today also stopped at the weekend statement of US presidential candidate Donald Trump, who declared that the United States would not, under his leadership, come to the aid of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) countries in the event of an attack by Russia, if they did not give enough money for their own defense.
“We both agreed that it is actually good in this regard that America and the candidate for the American president are holding up a mirror to us, because coincidentally, Mr. President and I have experienced for many years the lack that the military had, when it was constantly falling victim to various budget cuts “, MrČernochová announced. According to her, the statement is a kind of wake-up call, a warning for all those who would not fulfill the obligation. But according to her, it is part of the pre-election campaign.
But according to Černochová, the United States cares about security in Europe, the goal of the US is not the strengthening or victory of Russia. “We discussed the statement more in relation to the Czech Republic and the fact that it is actually good that we, as politicians, have taken a step towards two percent of GDP,” she added.
She also gave Pavlov a T-shirt with a picture of the American F-35 aircraft, which the Czech Republic plans to buy, with the wordsm “The most popular girl in the Alliance”. “He was happy for him, because he himself said several times in public debate that the purchase of the F-35 is a path in the right direction,” she pointed out. Černochová dedicated the same t-shirt in the House of Representatives to the chairman of the ANO movement and former prime minister Andrej Babiš, who considers the purchase of these planes unnecessary.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic, Karel Řehka, will be the guest of the new episode of the Blesku Players program. Already on Monday on Blesk.cz and in the printed Blesk
Lunch with Fiala
According to Fiala, the politicians agreed on the need to comply with alliance commitments in the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) and invest in the country’s security. He informed about it on the same network.
The castle said it was a regular and planned meeting. The last time the president and the prime minister and their wives had lunch together was on January 3. but back then it was more of a social gathering. Previously, Pavel also had lunch with Fiala at the end of October, the topics were the situation in the Middle East, government consolidation package, state budget or energy security.
“Mr. President and I talked about the economic outlook at our regular lunch Czech Republic for the year 2024, and we also talked about the current security situation in the world – especially in the Middle East and Ukraine,” stated Fiala. “We agreed that it is necessary to comply with allied commitments in NATO and to invest in our security,” he added.
Today, Pavel will also receive Defense Minister Jana Černochová (ODS) at Prague Castle.
