WARSAW, Poland — The Czech Ministry of Defence is planning to acquire new radars, 20 Pandur armored personnel carriers (APC) and Nexter Titus six-wheel drive armored vehicles for the country’s military, according to Deputy Defence Minister Pavel Beran.

The latest announcement comes as the Czech Republic is intensifying efforts to raise its military expenditure from 1.08 percent of its gross domestic product this year to 1.4 percent by 2020, and 2 percent by 2025.

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It is necessary that we rebound from the bottom, but this will happen at a slow pace,

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Beran told local broadcaster Ceska Televize.

The Defence Ministry

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s budget for 2017 is set to increase to some 52.5 billion koruna (US $2.1 billion), an increase of 10 percent compared with 2016. Next year’s radar procurement alone is expected to be worth about 1.7 billion koruna.

The move is part of a regional trend. Similar to a number of other Eastern European allies, Prague has placed an increased focus on its defense expenditure since Russia’s military intervention in eastern Ukraine.

Last November, Gen. Josef Becvar, the chief of staff of the Czech Armed Forces, said the country’s military could expand from the current 27,000 to 32,000 troops.

Meanwhile, Czech Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky said the ministry is also planning to overhaul the existing tender procedures with the aim to accelerate procurements of new weapons and military equipment for the Czech Armed Forces.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

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