Europe Must Shed Military-Spending `Sclerosis,' NATO Member Says
- Region can't hesitate to boost spending, Czech Minister Says
- NATO Likely to Put More Troops in East Europe, Stropnicky Says
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European NATO members deserve U.S. criticism for not spending enough on defense and can’t hesitate to boost their armies, according to the top Czech defense official.
Europe “is showing signs of sclerosis” with an inability to effectively combat some of the region’s top security threats, Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky said in an interview in Prague last week. Risks including a “newly aggressive” Russia, the conflict in Syria and Islamic State-fueled terrorism have fully exposed the continent’s weakness and are finally forcing it to confront those shortcomings, he said.