MUNICH, Germany (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has urged European nations to commit more troops to help fight extremism in Afghanistan or risk the survival of the NATO alliance.

Gates has recently complained that countries like the United States, Britain, and Canada are doing the bulk of the fighting while others -- specifically Germany, France, Italy and Turkey -- are not doing enough.

Addressing the Munich Conference on Security Policy, where Afghanistan was a central topic, Gates said on Sunday he was speaking "directly to the people of Europe" with a warning that Islamic extremism is a real threat to them that will not go away.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/10/nato.gates/index.html