Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš speaks to journalists prior to a meeting with the leaders of the European political party Patriots.eu ahead of the European Council in Brussels on December 17, 2025.
Nicolas Tucat / AFP
The patriotic-sovereignist coalition says the country needs the aircraft for its own defence.
The Czech Republic will not sell its subsonic L-159 jets to Ukraine, despite Kyiv’s offer over the weekend, citing the needs of its own armed forces.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said on Monday that the aircraft remain necessary, dismissing criticism claiming that they are going unused. Citing information from his defence minister and coalition partner, Babiš said, “the aircraft have a service life of about 15 more years and the army needs them.”
The move is bound to be supported by those who oppose measures that appear to be designed only to extend the bloody conflict. Indeed, since he returned to power in December, Babiš has pledged to reduce assistance to Ukraine, reversing the previous administration’s pro-war stance.
This refusal to sell jets to Ukraine was agreed to by the ANO, SPD and Motorists coalition. Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) said on Sunday that Czech President Petr Pavel had acted “like a bull in a china shop” by publicly offering aircrafts and other equipment to Ukraine without consulting the coalition in the first place.
Babiš later clarified:
We know that Ukraine wants and needs them, but the aircraft are simply not available and it is not true that they are sitting in a hangar somewhere and not being used.
The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Tomio Okamura (SPD), also said that “the purchase value [of the jets] is very high, the residual value is a fraction,” meaning “we would have to buy the aircraft again anyway.”
The left has, of course, responded furiously to the ruling coalition’s decision. Zdeněk Hřib, leader of the left-wing Pirate Party, said it was “indefensible,” and urged against forgetting “that this is about the common defence of the EU, in which we are protecting our citizens against Russian aggression.” Jan Farský, from the pro-EU liberal Mayors and Independents, also bashed the move as being based on “ideology,” insisting it will “harm security and the economy.”
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
