Fidel Castro compares NATO chief to ISIS

Still grab from a video taken on January 8, 2014 of former Cuban president Fidel Castro attending the inauguration of the nonprofit cultural center Kcho Romerillo, Laboratory for Art in Havana. AFP/Getty Images

HAVANA -- Former Cuban President Fidel Castro has jumped to the defense of Russia, comparing the new NATO chief to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in an article penned Monday evening.

Reacting to statements made Sunday by the new NATO secretary-general, former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Castro wrote: "How much hate in the face! What an incredible determination to promote a war of extermination against the Russian Federation!"

Stoltenberg spoke in Poland saying the Western alliance could deploy its forces wherever it wants. His statements were generally seen as a reaction to Russia's recent behavior in Crimea and Ukraine and as intended to reassure Poland, a NATO member, that it would be protected in the event of any Russian moves against it.

New North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of Norway speaks at his first press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on October 1, 2014.

THIERRY CHARLIER/AFP/Getty Images

Castro, however, described the NATO chief's remarks as fanaticism comparable to that of ISIS.

"Who turns out to be more extremist than the very fanatics of the Islamic State?" he wrote in the article published by the Cuban media Tuesday. "What religion do they practice? After this, is it possible to enjoy eternal life on the right side of the Lord?"

Although a NATO summit a month ago turned down appeals from Eastern European NATO members to station thousands of troops there permanently, Stoltenberg, who as Castro points out became NATO chief just six days ago, appeared to take a harder line in Poland.

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Fidel Castro compares NATO chief to ISIS