Czech PM proposes Europe create own Patriot analogue

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš proposed creating a joint European missile defense system called Euro Patriot. According to his plan, European countries should combine industrial and technological capabilities to defend against ballistic missiles, using the experience of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Babiš made the statement on September 17 during the opening of the international IISS Prague Defence Summit in Prague. The Czech government confirmed the prime minister's speech at the summit. 

According to the Czech prime minister, the war in Ukraine demonstrated the particular importance of systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.

"We must learn lessons from the war in Ukraine and seek solutions primarily in the field of defense against ballistic missiles. Perhaps I am naive, but I would like to try to convince our partners to focus on such a project", - stated Babiš.

He named the proposed program Euro Patriot. According to the Czech prime minister's vision, it should strengthen the European pillar of NATO, not compete with the United States. Babiš also believes that implementing such a project would provide additional opportunities for the European, particularly Czech, defense industry.

Babiš cited Airbus as an example of successful industrial cooperation. European countries, he said, have already shown that they can combine technological capabilities and long-term investments around a large-scale joint project.

In the field of missile defense, the prime minister also drew attention to Israel's experience. In his opinion, Europe has long been discussing the need to create a similar protective shield, but discussions are insufficient without moving to practical solutions.

However, Euro Patriot is still merely a political proposal by Babiš. The prime minister did not present a specific system architecture, cost, timeline, or list of states that could join the program.

Europe is also working on other missile defense projects. In particular, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced last week a joint program with Ukraine called FREYA, aimed at creating European capabilities to counter ballistic missiles. In parallel, NATO countries are expanding the procurement and production of interceptors for American Patriot systems. 

During the war, Ukraine uses Patriot as one of the key means of countering Russian ballistic missiles. However, the number of such systems and interceptor missiles remains limited, so Kyiv has repeatedly called on partners to increase supplies of missile defense assets.

Based on materials from: iRozhlas, Government of the Czech Republic