NATO Defence Ministers met in Brussels
Ministry of Defence & Armed Forces of the Czech Republic
14.2.2025
Author: by Karel Čapek, MoD Press Section
In Brussels, the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) discussed further support to Ukraine, both through the supplies of necessary military materiel and in the form of increasing the capacity of the Ukrainian defence industry. The Czech Republic was represented by Defence Minister Jana Černochová. The meeting was attended by newly sworn U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as well as Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
Defence Ministers of NATO nations met in attendance of the newly sworn United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Brussels yesterday. The meeting offered the first opportunity to learn the priorities and positions of the Trump Administration. Defence Ministers agreed that NATO must continue to strengthen its deterrence and defence and continue to support Ukraine against the Russian aggression, and underlined that NATO's adaptation to new strategic reality requires sufficient resourcing. The Czech Republic was represented by Defence Minister Jana Černochová.
"Secretary Hegseth reconfirmed the United States' strong commitment to NATO but made it clear at the same time that Europe has to do more for its defence and has to do it fast," Minister Černochová stated. "The Czech Republic is an active and reliable Ally. In 2024, we achieved 2% GDP on defence spending after two decades and we assign almost all our combat forces for collective defence. Along with the Czech industry, we are also among leaders in the support of the attacked Ukraine," she added.
The key debated topics including resourcing of defence, strengthening defence capabilities, including the importance of defence industrial capacities, adaptation of defence plans and integrated air and missile defence. According to Secretary Hegseth, the United States expects the European Allies and Canada to allocate much more on defence spending. He also emphasised that it is necessary to strengthen defence capabilities based on common NATO standards and ramp up the defence industry's production capacity both in Europe and in the United States.
"Provision of defence and building adequate armed forces will be challenging. Besides strengthening our armed forces, our second task is to provide the host nation support in the home territory. We know that mere 2% GDP for defence will not be enough. Secretary Hegseth today reiterated the demand by President Trump for NATO Allies to allocate up to 5% GDP for defence," emphasised Minister Černochová, who had an opportunity to shortly speak with Secretary Hegseth during the Defence Ministerial meeting and invite him to Prague for a working visit.
Besides the North Atlantic Council meeting in Defence Ministers format, the NATO Headquarters also hosted a session of the NATO-Ukraine Council with the attendance of the EU, and the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) that unites countries supporting Ukraine in its fight against the Russian aggression.
"Ukraine has heroically defended itself against the Russian aggression for almost three years. In cooperation with partners, the Czech Republic delivered to Ukraine roughly 1.5 million artillery rounds last year. That was instrumental for almost completely removing the Russian artillery superiority on the battlefield," Minister Černochová noted. "Our plan for 2025 is to continue this support in order to put Ukraine into a strong negotiating position. At the end of the day, almost all NATO Allies agreed on the need to militarily support Ukraine."
Besides those sessions, Minister Černochová signed the memorandum through which the Czech Republic joined the multinational initiative on passive air surveillance. By doing so, the Czech Republic can offer its expertise in the domain of passive surveillance systems.
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