Top Czech commander: Russia will continue menacing Europe, even when vanquished in Ukraine

The West must be prepared for the fact that Russia's war against Ukraine will drag on for a long time, and that Europe will have to deal with an increasingly hostile Russia even after the hostilities end, the head of the general staff of the Czech Republic, Karel Řehka, told Reuters.

In his opinion, given the situation at the front, "there is currently no capacity on either side to reach their ultimate declared objectives any time soon."

"It will last for long, probably. And it's important that we keep supporting Ukrainians for a long time," he said.

Řehka noted that although the Czech Republic has already transferred ammunition, tanks, armored vehicles, rocket launchers and howitzers to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as military aid, it still has weapons in its warehouses that could be useful to Ukraine.

"We are going through different storages and plans and concepts and trying to identify what more we can provide. We still have some, including some heavy equipment," he said.

The Czech military chief also commented on the parliament's decision to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP from 2024 and said that previously "not enough attention was paid to defense", and this applies, in his opinion, not only to the Czech Republic, but also to the entire Western alliance.

On August 29, 2023, the Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic, Jana Černochová, also stated that her country should be ready for a long conflict with Russia and continue to support Ukraine in the war against the occupiers.