NATO Secretary General with the Prime Minister of Czechia 🇨🇿 Andrej Babiš, 16 APR 2026

On Thursday (16 April 2026), NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, had talks in Prague with the Prime Minister of Czechia, Andrej Babiš. They discussed the current security environment, defence investment, production, and Ukraine. The Secretary General welcomed Czechia’s commitment to the Alliance. Speaking after the meeting, Mr. Rutte highlighted Czechia’s contributions to Euro-Atlantic security, including troops in NATO’s Forward Land Forces, personnel with NATO’s KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, and jets deployed for NATO Air Policing. The Secretary General underlined the importance of Allied defence investment in a more dangerous world: “Increasing defence spending is essential so that we have the forces, the resources, and the capabilities to keep our people safe.” Mr. Rutte explained that more defence spending and production also “promotes economic growth, inspires innovation, and creates jobs.” On Ukraine, the Secretary General highlighted the vital impact of the Czech-led ammunition initiative. He also welcomed the announcements of further support by NATO Allies and partners at yesterday’s meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Berlin: “Ukraine needs our help to defend against Russia today, be in a strong position to secure peace, and deter against any future aggression.” Mr. Rutte said he looked forward to working closely with Prime Minister Babiš: “We count on a strong Czechia in a strong NATO.” 🗣 | NATO Secretary General: Thank you so much Prime Minister, dear Andrej. Indeed, our friendship means a lot to me and we are close colleagues for so many years now. And thank you for the warm welcome to Prague today. It is great to see you again and to meet with the team. And it is always good to be in this beautiful city, which has stood at the crossroads of European history now for centuries. Since joining NATO in 1999, Czechia has been a committed Ally, making important contributions to our shared security. Your troops serve in NATO’s Forward Land Forces in Slovakia, Latvia and Lithuania. You contribute to KFOR, NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. And your jets have been part of NATO Air Policing, including to Iceland last year. All this shows Czechia takes its membership of NATO seriously and is committed to collective defence. In today’s security environment, this matters more than ever. We face an aggressive Russia, an assertive China, a threatening North Korea, and a dangerous Iran that has pursued a nuclear and ballistic missile programme now for years. In a more dangerous world, Allies took historic decisions at the NATO Summit in The Hague last year to invest more in defence, increase defence production, and keep supporting Ukraine. The Summit in Ankara this July will focus on how NATO is delivering. Increasing defence spending is essential so that we have the forces, the resources and the capabilities to keep our people safe. And we know — and this is true for all Allies — there are difficult debates on deciding budgets and allocating more funding for defence. But in the end, security is the foundation of prosperity. And when there is insecurity, societies and economies suffer. Andrej, with your successful career in business, you know the importance of strong industry. And in NATO, we are working to increase transatlantic defence cooperation and innovation. More defence spending and production provides effective deterrence, promotes economic growth, inspires innovation, and not unimportant, it creates jobs. On Ukraine, I welcome that the Czech-led ammunition initiative is moving forward. It is making a real difference. More than 4 million rounds of ammunition have reached Ukraine. And I urge nations, who are now listening in, and the 31 other Allies, to keep funding it so Ukraine gets the ammunition it needs to hold back the Russians. I was in Berlin yesterday to discuss with NATO Allies and partners how we will continue to ensure that Ukraine gets the help it needs. I welcome the extra support announced by Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium announced another package of 1.1 billion Euros, and also many other countries were very clear on their commitments. Transcript continues: https://www.nato.int/en/news-and-even... ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ SUBSCRIBE to this channel https://bit.ly/NATOsubscribe SUBSCRIBE to NATO News https://bit.ly/NATONewsSubscribe SUBSCRIBE to NATO History https://bit.ly/NATOHistorySubscribe Connect with NATO online: Visit the Official NATO Homepage: https://bit.ly/NATOhomepage Receive NATO updates via email: https://bit.ly/NATOemails Find NATO on FACEBOOK: https://bit.ly/NATOfacebook Follow @NATO on X/TWITTER: https://bit.ly/NATOtwitter Follow NATO on Instagram: https://bit.ly/NATOinstagram Find NATO on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/NATOlinkedin Find NATO on Flickr: https://bit.ly/NATOflickr #NATO #OTAN #czechrepublic