Brigadier General František Mičánek, head of the Centre for Security and Military Strategic Studies at the University of Defense in Brno, was recently elected Dean of NATO Defense College in Rome. He is the second Czech to secure a high post in NATO defense structures, following General Petr Pavel’s appointment as chairman of NATO's Military Committee. Read/listen to an interview with him on Radio Prague.

...Have the newcomers to NATO managed to win the respect of the former member states?
“Yes, definitely, some are more successful than others and the size of a country is not decisive in most cases. Of course, the role of Poland is bigger, because the country is bigger and has a bigger army than the rest of the newcomers, but it really depends on national policies. Now I am more than happy that the current government has reversed the unfortunate trend of cutting costs in the military and are paying more attention to its needs. As far as I know, we are one of three NATO countries which have been commended for improving defense spending. So that is good. But long-term development and stability is more important than short-term investments so we need to invest more not for five years or ten years but in the long-term perspective and that is what must be improved, especially here in the Czech Republic.”

We should say that you are still head of the Centre for Security and Military Strategic Studies at the University of Defense in Brno. What is the present defense capability of the Czech Republic and is it adequate do you think?
“That is a question for the Chief of Defense. But we carefully calculated how big an army we need, how many units, how robust a command control system we need and a new strategy on the development of the armed forces was approved by the government at the end of last year. So we have a concept, we have the money and the size – approximately a 27,000 strong force –should be sufficient for the tasks and ambitions and goals of the Czech military.”

Read full interview here.