Following inauguration of the new cabinet by the President of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman on Wednesday 29 January 2014, the newly appointed Prime Minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, introduced Martin Stropnicky to the Defence Minister’s office on 30 January 2014 in the morning.
In a press conference at the Ministry of Defence, PM Sobotka announced that the policy of "non-discriminating" financial cuts in the defence budget was over. For the new Defence Minister, the PM outlined priorities in attaining stabilisation of the MoD and achieving efficiency of all economic decisions to be policy-driven.
"The new cabinet is ready to meet the commitments the Czech Republic has to its Allies," Prime Minister Sobotka underscored.
"During my mandate, I will seek to carry on implementing the program and conclusions under the White Paper on Defence. In my view, it will be possible to follow in the current trend to a maximum extent," Minister Martin Stropnicky said.
The first steps of new Defence Minister Stropnicky led to the National Memorial at Vítkov Hill Prague to lay a wreath to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and into the crypt of the Saints Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Church in Prague, to honour Czechoslovak paratroopers, who assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, a leading figure of the Nazi occupation of Bohemia and Moravia during World War II.
January 31, 2014
