- NATO’s legitimacy has been placed in question after its failure in Afghanistan, said Czech President Milos Zeman
- NATO’s main role is to combat international terrorism, but it has also failed at this task, added Zeman, who is considered pro-Russia and pro-China
- On Tuesday, NATO said the Taliban must prevent Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist breeding ground again, and warned that the alliance still has the military capability to strike any terrorist group from a distance
PRAGUE, Czech Republic: NATO’s legitimacy has been placed in question after its failure in Afghanistan, said Czech President Milos Zeman, stressing that his country will focus on national defense, rather than “wasting money” on the alliance.
NATO’s main role is to combat international terrorism, but it has also failed at this task, added Zeman, who is considered pro-Russia and pro-China.
In an interview published by “www.parlamentnilisty.cz” on Tuesday, Zeman stated, “The distrust of several member countries towards NATO will increase after this experience, because they will say – if you failed in Afghanistan, how can you guarantee that you will not fail in any other critical situation?”
“As investing in NATO is now like wasting money, our defense spending should focus on national defense and national military procurement,” he added.
On Tuesday, NATO said the Taliban must prevent Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist breeding ground again, and warned that the alliance still has the military capability to strike any terrorist group from a distance.
The President, under the constitution, is the commander-in-chief of the Czech Armed Forces, but the government is responsible for establishing national defense policies.
The Czech Republic seeks to raise its defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2024, in line with NATO’s target level, but this deadline cannot be met due to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the government said in June.
