The head of the European Union, Czech President Mirek Topolanek, slammed President Barack Obama’s plan to spend $2 trillion dollars to push the US economy out of recession as “the road to hell” that EU governments must avoid.

This was the strongest pushback yet, from a European leader, after the US criticism that Europe was not spending enough to stimulate demand.

European politicians have gone into damage control mode, the major EU nations largely ignoring Topolanek and his remarks.