Prague, Dec 13 (CTK) – The Czech Republic seems to have enough money to radically rebuild its military and parliament members from various political parties agree that the reconstruction is essential,weekly Respekt has written in its latest issue, adding that this opportunity should not be wasted.
The country faced the need to rebuild its military twice before: in 1993, after the split of Czechoslovakia, and in 2005, after the compulsory military service for male citizens was abolished. In both cases, the political will and finances available were sufficient to update the army, Respekt writes.
However, the military acquisitions were ill-considered and about 90 billion crowns were wasted in the 2000s, according to the Czech White Paper on Defence. Unless the military is upgraded, it may lose its combat capabilities by 2018 at the latest, the document from 2011 warned, Respekt writes.
“The third attempt that is starting now seems to be the last one,” MP Ivan Gabal (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL), a member of the lower house security and defence committees, said about the military reconstruction. “If we begin to give money to inefficient projects and yield to arms lobbies, we will end up without a useful army, without allies and we will be an easy bite for Moscow,” he told Respekt.
MP Antonin Seda (Social Democrats, CSSD), from the defence committee, expressed concern that the finances might be wasted on bad projects and said it is unclear whether the country is capable of building a modern army after its failed attempts.
Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky (ANO) shares the view that the country faces the imperial interests of the Kremlin, Respekt writes.
“Russia declared a disinformation war on us. It tries to drive a wedge between the countries of the European Union. Many reports show that Russia is developing its sphere of influence here and tries to influence our society,” Stropnicky is quoted as saying.
He said the Czech Republic is not threatened with a direct attack, but the Baltic states fear such an attack and the Czechs need a larger military with modern equipment to be able to meet its pledge to defend the Baltics.
Gabal, who returned from a visit to the U.S. Defense Department earlier this month, said President-elect Donald Trump’s warning that the U.S. security guarantees will end unless their European allies start investing in their militaries is serious, Respekt writes.
In the last five years, the USA spent 3.5 percent of GDP on defence, while the average defence spending among its European allies was 1.5 percent of GDP. In 2015, the United States spent on defence three times more than the total sum spent by all its European allies. Trump called on the other NATO members to meet their pledges to spend 2 percent of GDP on their militaries and Germany, Poland and the Baltic states promptly announced increases in their defence budgets, Respekt writes.
The Czech Republic also promised to increase its defence budget. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (CSSD), Stropnicky, Chief-of-Staff Josef Becvar as well as MPs from all parties except for the Communists (KSCM) recently said they support the increase. Moreover, opinion polls show that a majority of Czechs support the increase in defence spending. Following the refugee crisis and the Russian effort to regain control of Eastern Europe, most people feel that an attack from the outside is a threat to the country, Respekt writes.
This year, the Czech defence budget is nearly 50 billion crowns, or 1.03 percent of GDP. The Czech economic outlook is very good and Sobotka’s government promised to spend 1.4 percent of GDP on defence by 2020.
There is a lot that needs to be developed in the Czech military, Respekt indicates.
The Czech military has 22,000 troops but only a single brigade, or 2700 troops, whose combat capabilities meet the NATO standards. At one time, the maximum of 1300 troops can be deployed in allied military missions and in possible operations in defence of attacked allies, Respekt writes.
In 2017, the Czech military must buy new anti-aircraft radars to replace the obsolete ones from the Warsaw Pact period. The new radars would accurately detect an enemy air attack, yet the anti-aircraft artillery and missiles from the 1970s and 1980s might not be able to react to such an attack and the Czech commanders would be left helplessly watching what is going on, Respekt writes.
According to the Czech intelligence, the electronic communication of both the government and the military is so badly secured that even a modern artillery might not prevent an attack because a skilled hacker could violate the coordination of the Czech defence within a few hours, Respekt writes.
This year, Stropnicky presented the Czech military development strategy until 2025 that earmarks 160 billion crowns for modernisation and rear security planning.
Czech lower house members agreed to support the long-term plans of military experts and help increase the defence and security spending as soon as possible, but they say Stropnicky lacks courage to push through the army’s reconstruction, Respekt says.
Stropnicky dismissed the criticism. “They may have this impression, however, I am remaking a system that has been suspected of a strong corruption, red tape and inflexibility for years. I don’t want to throw money into a black hole like my predecessors,” Respekt quotes him as saying.
In the past, it often were politicians rather than defence experts who made the decisions on Czech arms purchases, such as the Gripen fighters or the CASA transport aircraft, Respekt writes.
Stropnicky said he would prepare an independent acquisition system for the next minister so that a modern military can be built.
