Czechia will for the first time pay into a NATO scheme that buys US-made weapons for Ukraine, Foreign Minister Petr Macinka said. The step marks the first time Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's government joins military aid for Kyiv after refusing to spend Czech money on weapons. President Petr Pavel called the move a positive signal.
Prague redirects budget money into PURL
Czechia will redirect funds from some budget projects into the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, under which allied countries pay for American weapons for Ukraine's Defense Forces, Macinka said before flying to the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye. Czech public broadcaster CT24 reported the announcement on 7 July.
"We are now looking at redirecting some projects that are mandatory in our budget toward Ukraine specifically into this PURL program," Macinka said.
He was due to present the shift to NATO and Ukrainian foreign ministers at a Tuesday dinner, Deník N reported. The first countries to join PURL were the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Canada; Czechia had stayed outside until now.
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A first for the Babiš government
Babiš's government, in power since late last year, had refused to allocate money for weapons for Ukraine or provide military aid. The President welcomed the change in Ankara.
"The Czech Republic was one of the few that had not signed up to this process at all. So if it now goes ahead, that is certainly a positive signal," Pavel said.
The Prime Minister, meanwhile, called the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine a one-time move. He said he did not know the exact sum but that it would be small. He also cited an inherited budget with a 90-billion-koruna ($4.2 billion) hole for this year.
