Babis: Govt won't cut defence, security spending over Covid-19

Despite the coronavirus crisis, the Czech government will not cut the defence and security budgets, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said at a security conference at the Prague Castle on Thursday. Babis said he was glad that Defence Minister Lubomir Metnar was "not afraid to make decisions on military purchases". He also reacted to the recently published passage from United States national security advisor John Bolton's book, in which Bolton mentions and ridicules Babis's statements at the 2018 NATO summit. Babis said the Czech Republic was on its way to investing 2 percent of its GDP in defence and thus fulfilling its commitment to NATO by 2024.