PRAGUE — The Czech Republic is prepared to fulfil its NATO obligations and would deploy two mechanised brigades if Russia attacked a Baltic member state, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said in a video interview published on Tuesday.
Asked whether Prague was planning for possible Russian action against NATO, Babis said security challenges were being discussed at the highest levels, including with President Petr Pavel, even if details were not shared publicly. “Of course we are preparing. If, God forbid, Russia were to attack a Baltic state, then, under Article 5, we have to send two of our mechanised brigades,” he said, adding that he saw no reason to disclose classified information.
Babis, whose coalition includes a pro-Russian, anti-immigrant party, has halted Czech military aid to Ukraine and opted out of several EU and NATO financing pledges for Kyiv, while repeatedly calling for European leaders to prioritise peace. This month he said Russia was waging a hybrid war against the Czech Republic and that intelligence services were giving it maximum attention, echoing wider Western warnings of rising sabotage and covert attacks across Europe. Moscow has denied plotting confrontation or involvement in hybrid warfare or sabotage operations targeting NATO countries.