Czech defence chief Jiří Šedivý exits over NATO spending dispute

The Czech Ministry of Defence announced that senior director of defence policy and strategy Jiří Šedivý will leave his post at the end of May. Šedivý, who assumed the role in August 2023 after a competitive selection, has been under political pressure following a briefing in which he warned that the government was inflating defence‑budget figures to meet NATO’s 2 % of GDP target by counting non‑defence items such as road projects. NATO data presented to him indicated that Czech defence spending would reach only 1.78 % of GDP, a discrepancy the alliance deemed unacceptable.

According to reports, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, through Defence Minister Jaromír Zůna, pressed Šedivý to resign, claiming the briefing had placed the prime minister under “enormous pressure.” The ministry will launch a new recruitment process to find his successor. The government also appointed former NATO ambassador Jakub Landovský as its envoy for NATO commitments, signalling an effort to improve reporting and justification of defence expenditures.