Czech president Petr Pavel warns Russia will be Europe’s main security threat for decades – Europe live

European state officials are meeting in Prague to discuss the state of the transatlantic alliance at a global security conference

Pavel says that Europe “has already made significant progress in defence spending,” but warns that “credible defence is not built on spending levels alone.”

“We need to work hard to strengthen our strategic enablers and close critical gaps in areas such as strategic airlift, air and missile defence, intelligence, logistics, or military mobility. There is no time to lose.”

“This doesn’t mean that Europe should turn away from the United States – just the opposite. Nato remains the foundation of our collective defence, and the transatlantic bond remains essential for our own security – but we must be honest [that] many assumptions supporting the old security architecture are no longer valid.”