Czech politicians may like to talk about humanitarian and development aid, but in reality we lag behind both Austria and Slovenia
A look at the figures is unforgiving in this respect. In 2024, the Czech Republic stood at 0.17 percent of gross national income invested in official development assistance—that is, concrete support for partner countries. This is significantly less than in economically comparable countries. Austria, for example, a state of similar size and regional anchoring, spent 0.34 percent of GNI on development cooperation in 2024. Slovenia, a country with a smaller economy and no ambition to play a major geopolitical role, reached 0.23 percent in 2024. The gap therefore cannot be explained by the size of the economy, but rather by differing political priorities.