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Summary for: Czechia criticizes US defense chief Hegseth for ‘lack of respect’ over Afghanistan commentsCzech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka criticized Pete Hegseth after the US Defense Secretary questioned and belittled the contribution of NATO allies in Afghanistan.
“Allies should honor every life lost in a joint military operation, as well as every soldier who took part in Alliance operations,” Macinka told Novinky.cz.
'Closer to one or two'
“We fully do so, and we expect reciprocity and respect in this. Hegseth’s words lack respect,” the head of Czech diplomacy added.
In a speech made on Saturday, Hegseth recalled his time in Afghanistan – where he served as a Minnesota Army National Guard instructor – and remembered seeing “50 flags at the headquarters” of the NATO coalition base in Kabul.
“And it was a beautiful thing to see, 50 different countries contributing to the NATO alliance and the ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] mission there,” he said. “Except there were maybe five that contributed. It was actually closer to one or two that actually… by the end were actually involved in kinetic operations.”
The US Defense Secretary continued: “In fact, the patch ‘ISAF’ – we joked that it meant ‘I Saw Americans Fighting’. Which is sort of a joke, but it’s demoralizing when you feel like it’s not burden-sharing, it’s actually a burden.”
Tell that, Mr @SecWar, to the families of 44 Polish soldiers who died securing the tough Ghazni province.
— RadosÅ‚aw Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) October 18, 2026
Other NATO allies respond to Hegseth
About 2,500 U.S. military personnel died in Afghanistan – two-thirds of the total death toll – but soldiers from over 30 nations were also killed in duty, including more than 450 from the UK, over 150 from Canada, dozens from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Denmark, among others, as well as 14 Czech army personnel.
The Czech Republic isn’t the only country to react angrily to Hegseth’s comments – which didn't mark the first time U.S. officials from the Trump administration downplayed the role of other NATO members in Afghanistan.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham insisted that “we are incredibly proud of our armed forces, and their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten. And it is wrong to diminish their role.”
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski also called on Hegseth to repeat his statement “to the families of 44 Polish soldiers who died” during the Alliance’s military intervention.
