WARSAW — Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky has unveiled plans to expand the Czech Republic's military from the current 16,600 troops to as much as 27,000 by 2025. In addition, the government may revive conscription, reports local daily Mlada fronta DNES.
Stropnicky said both issues are being discussed within a broader as part of an ongoing debate about the country's military policy, and that a decision could be taken this June.
"We are continuing to discuss the most vital issue, the philosophy of the armed forces, their focus," Stropnicky said.
In March, senior government officials announced that the Czech Defense Ministry was currently working on a draft bill to restore conscription. By 2025, the Czech armed forces are to have a minimum of 24,000 troops.
Similar to a number of other Eastern European allies, the Czech Republic has responded to the conflict in Ukraine, and Russia's takeover of the Crimean peninsula, with plans to hike military spending. To finance With the aim of financing acquisition of new weapons, military equipment and training activities, Prague's defense spending expenditure is designed to rise from 41 billion krona (US $1.64 billion) in 2014 to 71.5 billion krona in 2020, according to the Czech Ministry.
Email: jadamowski@defensenews.com
Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.
