Defence Minister Jana Černochová participated at the NATO Summit in Washington D.C. as a member of the Presidential delegation. The Summit honoured 75 years since the inception of NATO and addressed the most pressing threats to Euro-Atlantic security.
Heads of all 32 NATO nations adopted a number of decisions in three main areas:
First, the Alliance is completing the process of most extensive strengthening of its collective defence in the past thirty years. NATO Allies now have half a million service personnel on high readiness available to defend their territory (the Czech Republic contributes approximately 10,000 service members). The implementation of new Allied defence plans continues. Such plans define exactly location, the mission and unit to perform such mission in case of an attack or a crisis. NATO Allies also dedicated intense effort to the preparation of logistic and organisational capabilities of collective defence, which include mainly Host Nation Support (HNS). This task is especially vital to the Czech Republic given its geographical location.
This effort requires significant resourcing. Most Allies are well aware of that as proven by the fact that 23 of 32 nations shall spend over 2% GDP on defence this year. Thanks to the new defence financing act, the Czech Republic is one of them. Many nations (especially from NATO’s Eastern Flank) exceed the 2% spending benchmark, including Poland with 4% GDP.
“Our Government was the first to have the political courage to properly invest into defence. I am truly grateful for that. However, 2% GDP actually allows us to fix only the deepest gaps caused by systematic neglect of defence investments in the past decades,” said Minister Černochová.
Second, the Allies confirmed they shall continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against the Russian aggression. The Alliance shall increase its participation in planning and coordination of military assistance and its logistic support. NATO Allies also undertook that the total amount of yearly military aid delivered to Ukraine shall amount to no less than EUR 40 billion.
The Summit agenda also included the NATO-Ukraine Council (NUC) with high level participation, including President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. The NUC is a format that allows Ukraine to join discussions as an equal partner.
Third, NATO is expanding cooperation with partner countries outside of Europe, especially democratic countries of the Pacific. One of the Summit sessions therefore included the participation of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
China is now Russia’s most significant supporter and the delivery of Chinese materiel enables Russia to continue its war against Ukraine. The cooperation among Russia, China and Iran has a global impact not only on NATO’s security interests but also on those of many other democratic countries all over the world.
The Defence Minister had several bilateral meetings during the Summit. She met U.S. Under Secretary of State Bonnie Jenkins to discuss the status of the Czech ammunition initiative and the strengthening of defence industrial cooperation between the Czech Republic and the United States.
During the meeting with the Minister of National Defence of Lithuania, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, she spoke about the potential of the Czech defence industry in the modernisation of Lithuanian Armed Forces and the activity of the international demining coalition in support of Ukraine. This coalition, of which the Czech Republic is a member, is led by Lithuania.
Minister Černochová and Montenegrin Minister of Defence Dragan Krapović talked about the security situation in the Western Balkans, the deployment of Czech service personnel in Bosnia and Kosovo and the involvement of Czech industries in the process of modernisation of the Montenegrin Armed Forces.
The Minister also signed the Memorandum of Understanding which established an international drone coalition under Latvian lead to support Ukraine. The participants include Poland, Denmark, Canada, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and Australia. The aim of the coalition is to support Ukraine during acquisition, development and testing of various types of drones, which are a key asset in the battlefield.
During the dinner of Defence Minister, Minister Černochová held informal talks with her U.S. and German counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Boris Pistorius. She also joined President Pavel during bilateral meetings with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The NATO Industry Forum took place in parallel with the Summit. The Forum gathers representatives of Allied Defence Minister and defence industries and its objective was to find a solution to increase production capacities of the western defence industry at a time when Russia partially transitioned to war production and massive armament activity.
“Overall, I perceive the Washington Summit as very successful. We strengthen the Alliance’s collective defence and we keep helping Ukraine. The Czech Republic was also highly visible at the Summit. Our membership in NATO is the basis of our security and I am therefore glad we are a respected Ally,” Minister Černochová concluded.
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