Americans or Tanks from the East?

Published in Hospodářské Noviny
(Czech Republic) on 9 March 2015
by Daniel Anýž (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Mark Nuckols. Edited by Nathan Moseley.
We don’t have to go far to get an idea of how differently individual NATO countries perceive security risks — we can just stay home. The administration prides itself on raising defense expenditures from the current one percent of the GDP to 1.4 percent by 2020. But it considers that the final target. It maintains a chaste silence on the commitment of NATO countries to spend at least 2 percent, and here and there points out that the aforementioned ceiling is the maximum for the Czech economy, if not a luxury. It’s the same with money as with free time. If there’s something you really want to set aside finances or time for, you can always find both. It’s a matter of priorities and it’s evident that a large portion of Czech ruling coalition politicians don’t want to, or cannot, acknowledge the current hazards.

This became apparent last week when information that the U.S. is considering the establishment of military bases in the Czech Republic evoked panic on the Czech scene. Top members of the ruling Czech Social Democratic Party, such as Rep. Foldyna and Governor Hašek, objected that it would happen only over their dead bodies. And even Prime Minister Sobotka had to reassure his electoral base that the talk isn’t about military installations, only exercises in which American soldiers would participate on Czech territory within the framework of NATO.

Phew, that takes a load off Rep. Foldyna’s mind, too. He remembers how, when he was eight, Soviet tanks rattled through the streets. And he would never want to experience anything like that again.

But it’s precisely an American base, of which the representative is afraid, that could be an insurance policy that tanks from the East really never again reach Czech land. Until politicians understand that, they will have the feeling that they are spending too much on defense. But that feeling is erroneous and dangerous.


Pro představu, jak různě mohou jednotlivé země NATO vnímat bezpečnostní rizika, nemusíme chodit daleko, zůstaňme doma. Vláda se chlubí, že výdaje na obranu ze současné sumy, která dělá 1 procento HDP, do roku 2020 zvedne na 1,4 procenta. Považuje to ale za cílovou metu.

O závazku, že země NATO budou na obranu dávat nejméně 2 procenta, cudně mlčí, a tu a tam naopak upozorní, že pro českou ekonomiku je uvedený strop maximem, ne-li luxusem. S penězi se to ale má jako s volným časem. Nač si skutečně chcete finance nebo čas vyšetřit, na to si jedno i druhé najdete. Jde o priority a je evidentní, že velká část českých vládních politiků si aktuální rizika nechce, či nedokáže připustit.

To se ukázalo minulý týden, když na české scéně vyvolala poplach informace, že USA zvažují zřízení vojenské základny v Česku. Představitelé vládní ČSSD, například poslanec Foldyna či hejtman Hašek, se ohradili, že jen přes jejich mrtvoly. A až předseda vlády Sobotka musel voličskou základnu ujistit, že nejde o základny, ale jen o vojenská cvičení, kterých by se v rámci NATO na českém území zúčastnili i američtí vojáci.

Uf, spadl kámen ze srdce i poslanci Foldynovi. Ten si ze svých osmi let pamatuje, jak po ulicích drnčely sovětské tanky. A už by prý nikdy v životě nechtěl nic takového zažít.

Jenže právě americká základna, ze které má pan poslanec hrůzu, by přitom mohla být pojistkou, že tanky z Východu už skutečně nikdy do Česka nedorazí. Dokud to politici nepochopí, budou mít pocit, že na obranu země dávají více než dost. Pocit to je ale mylný a nebezpečný.
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