Jan Hamáček underlines Czech defense spending pledge in reaction to Trump comments

Lower house of parliament speaker Jan Hamáček highlighted the Czech commitment to boost defense spending to 1.4 percent of GDP by 2020 and further increase it afterwards in response to US President Donald Trump’s Warsaw speech. Trump, while underlining Washington’s support for the NATO principle of common defense, also stressed that many NATO members are way below the 2.0 percent of GDP NATO target. The Czech Republic currently spends slightly over 1.0 of GDP on defense. Hamáček, who was representing the Czech Republic at the Three Seas Initiative, said on his Twitter account that he talked with Trump about energy security and also raised the future of the EU-US trade deal, TTIP, with him.

Author: Chris Johnstone