Minister of Defence Jana Černochová presented her priorities at today’s press conference. Her Decalogue for Defence includes both the commitment to spend two percent of GDP on defence by 2025 and the establishment of a dedicated investment fund to concentrate funding for strategic modernisation projects. The Minister also wants to streamline the acquisition process, modernise the Armed Forces and recruit more personnel.
Minister Černochová regards the two percent commitment, which is included in the Government’s programme declaration, both as an important deliverable to NATO and indeed a critical investment into the Czech Republic’s security and defence.
One of the innovations introduced by the Minister is the creation of the dedicated defence investment fund with annual allocations to finance the strategic modernisation projects of the Czech Armed Forces. The fund should be up and running by the end of the next year or in 2024. Minister Černochová believes the fund will provide a higher degree of predictability, sufficient financial resources in individual years, as well as a higher level of flexibility. “This fund is inspired by an Act from the First Czechoslovak Republic. Once the acquisition process begins, virtual funding will be deposited, and when the process is to be finalized, the Ministry of Finances will transfer the relevant amount,“ the Minister explained. She added that the details of this project are being discussed with the Minister of Finance, Zbyněk Stanjura, with whom the bill is intended to be submitted.
Increased defence appropriations coupled with better planning
According to the Minister, an increased defence budget must go hand in hand with better planning and simpler legislation. Jana Černochová will therefore strive for an amendment of the Act No. 134/2016 Coll., on Public Procurement, so that it takes into account the specifics of defence acquisitions: “Life cycle costing information must be added, for example. We have to avoid a situation where we do all we can to procure a piece of technology only to find out that the maintenance will cost billions in the thirty years to come, which we did not account for.“
The Minister further mentioned that market research used by the MoD in public procurement must reflect current prices. “The market research for the IFV project was done in 2015. The costs during realisation are much higher than anticipated,“ she pointed out. According to the Minister, the IFV project is a high priority and a new analysis should be prepared within three months. Jana Černochová also wants to move forward with the modernisation of the Armed Forces in other domains, including but not limited to airpower and emerging technologies.
State enterprises and the University of Defence could participate in the implementation of new technologies, as they hold a great research and development potential which must be supported the Minister said. “They are truly able to work in their suboptimal conditions and create value that take years for others to make. We should give their ideas and products a fighting chance in the international market, too.“
Jana Černochová: I want to support the Czech defence industry
The Minister wants to implement the support of the Czech defence industry through the Chamber of Commerce. “This means defence businesses will have the necessary information (including plans and project information) for the Czech industries to ready themselves.“
Jana Černochová will also seek to amend the Crisis Management Act and the Act on Economic Measures in the States of Crisis, as well as the Act on Foreign Trade in Military Materiel. “That should enable the Czech Government to offer Czech products in international markets.”
Target: 2,000 new enlists
Recruitment is also one of the Minister’s priorities, as it considerably slackened in the past months, the Minister said. Minister Černochová wants to introduce virtual recruitment centres, which would simplify the enlistment process. The Minister stated that 2,000 newly recruited military professionals would be an ideal yearly target. She also wants to discuss this topic with the Chief of the General Staff, General Aleš Opata, and State Secretary Petr Vančura.
The Minister also supports the POKOS reach-out project that is designed to introduce the basics of national defence to the general public. The project does not involve reintroduction of national defence classes which are engraved in the minds of the older generations. The POKOS projects aims at teaching young people survival methods and first aid.
New community centres for war veterans
The Minister wants to increase the support of war veterans, for example by creating new community centres, which should be available in all regional capitals. Military anniversaries and heroes should also be commemorated in more significant ways.
EU defence cooperation must not weaken NATO
According to the Minister, the Czech Republic enjoys the greatest security in all its history thanks to the membership in NATO and the EU. She also wishes to maintain close relationships with United States and Israel, with the latter being historically very close with the Czech Republic. Minister Černochová also highlighted the importance of European defence, but emphasized that it must not weaken NATO and lead to building a European armed forces. “Cooperation on the European level is necessary, but we cannot replace NATO with a European force.“
Regarding the deployment of Czech military personnel abroad, the Minister urges for an amendment of the Constitution of the Czech Republic (Article 43), in order to make the deployment process more flexible. The control function of the Parliament will be maintained. The Minister also added that the deployment must not be infinite as to the number of personnel and has to be evaluable. “We need to get feedback on our international deployments,“ the Minister said in reference to the engagement in Afghanistan.
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