• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic Jana Černochová received the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Prague

Ministry of Defence & Armed Forces of the Czech Republic

9.9.2022

On Friday, September 9, Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic Jana Černochová welcomed U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Prague. The Ministers discussed assistance to Ukraine and bilateral cooperation.

"The United States is our most important ally. We rely on the United States not only with the defense of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but also with the current situation in Europe. The United States provide a massive support to Ukraine proving once again that they are an indispensable leader of the free world. I would like to thank the U.S. Secretary Austin, and all of the citizens of the United States for their willingness to defend this world and Europe as a whole. The Czech Republic stands ready to support the United States in this to the fullest extent, which is why we are stepping up our investment in defense and accelerating the construction of military capabilities, including major armaments projects", said Jana Černochová.

The U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin added at the press conference: "The United States remain steadfast in our commitment to the defense, freedom and sovereignty of our allies. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization does not seek confrontation with Russia, or pose any threat to Russia, but our defensive alliance, as it always has, will protect every inch of NATO territory. We will continue to stand strong with our NATO allies and we will continue to stand against Russia's assault on democracy, sovereignty and the rules-based international order."

Friday's meeting between the Czech Minister of Defence Jana Černochová and the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also focused on bilateral cooperation. The Czech Republic and the United States are currently negotiating a Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA).

"Our goal is to increase the Czech-American defence cooperation to a level higher than before. This cooperation will be more than just words; it will translate into real joint projects", said Minister Černochová.

The meeting was a follow-up to Minister Černochová's business trip to the USA in April 2022, when she met with her American counterpart at the Pentagon. The topic of the discussion was, among others, modernization of the Czech Armed Forces.

Minister Černochová attended as well the meeting of the U.S. Secretary of Defense with Prime Minister Petr Fiala at the Office of the Government. They also attended together the official reception ceremony to the President of the Republic.