NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has commended Czechia’s growing leadership within the Alliance, highlighting its rising defence spending, strong support for Ukraine, and expanding operational commitments, according to a NATO news release issued on 21 May 2025.
Speaking during a meeting with Czech President Petr Pavel at NATO Headquarters, Mr Rutte praised Czechia as “a strong and reliable Ally,” noting that the country already exceeds NATO’s 2% of GDP defence spending benchmark and is on track to increase it to 3% in the coming years.
“You spend more than 2% of GDP on defence, and I welcome the commitment you’ve already made to increase defence spending to 3% in the coming years,” he said.
Czechia contributes to NATO’s deterrence and defence posture through deployments to Forward Land Forces in Slovakia, Latvia, and Lithuania. This year, it will also deploy combat aircraft to Iceland as part of NATO’s air policing mission.
The Secretary General highlighted Czechia’s significant support for Ukraine, including more than €1.3 billion in military aid and its leadership in a multinational ammunition initiative that has delivered over 3 million rounds of large-calibre ammunition—1.5 million of which were delivered in 2024 alone.
Czechia is also expanding its contribution to NATO’s longer-term support to Ukraine, including participation in the NATO Security Assistance and Training command (NSATU) in Wiesbaden. Twenty Czech personnel are set to deploy to NSATU’s Logistics Enabling Nodes this July.
Looking ahead to the NATO Summit in The Hague, Mr Rutte emphasised the importance of boosting defence spending and strengthening the transatlantic defence industry.
“We will need to do much more, and this will remain our focus as we prepare for The Hague Summit,” said the Secretary General. “We have a lot of work to do. And I know I can count on Czechia’s continued commitment and leadership.”
