Rice has arrived in Prague this morning to sign the radar treaty with her Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg. Topolanek said Czechoslovakia's then decision not to accept the U.S.
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U.N. Human rights body criticises Czechs over Romanies, cage beds ... help to the war-afflicted European states was a mistake that Prague must not repeat. "Once in the past, we were in a situation similar to the present, and we failed once already," Topolanek said. The U.S. plan for the post-war renewal of Europe was formulated by then U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall in 1947 and it was implemented in 1948-52. The states of central and east Europe, including Czechoslovakia, which were getting under the Soviet influence at the time, declined the offered help. According to Topolanek, today's arrival of Rice is linked to Czech statehood and freedom like 90 years ago when the USA assisted in the birth of independent Czechoslovakia. The treaty on the missile defence radar base, which Rice and Schwarzenberg will sign today, is an expression of the joint will "to defend the free world," Topolanek said. Rice said the signing of the treaty is important not only for the USA and the Czech Republic, but also for NATO and the whole international community. She emphasised that the threat of a missile attack is not "imaginary" as Iran continues enriching uranium. Topolanek (Civic Democrats, ODS) said he appreciates it that Prague has managed to complete the negotiations on the treaty and believes that it will be successfully ratified by Czech parliament. In parliament, the Czech centre-right government is not sure of a sufficient support for the radar. Rice said she knows that the treaty would come into force only after parliament ratified it. This shows that the Czech Republic is an advanced democracy, she added. Topolanek said today's signature of the radar treaty means that the Czechs will fulfil its commitments ensuing from its NATO membership. "The fact that the facility has an alliance character has also been confirmed by the final documents of the NATO summit in Bucharest [this April]," Topolanek said. The USA wants its radar in the Czech Republic to be complemented by a base with interceptor missiles in Poland, but the relevant U.S.-Polish negotiations are still underway. On her trip to Prague today, Rice told journalists that she does not know when the talks with Poland could be closed. Topolanek said he has been in regular personal contact with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk. "If the negotiations with Poland get complicated, this does not mean that we [Czechs] have failed, but on the contrary, that our negotiations were very tough, realistic and reached their aim," Topolanek said. He and Rice today also discussed Czech aid to the allies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rice said the Czechs are sure of freedom now, therefore they strive for freedom to be established in other countries as well. Rice said the park around the Czech prime ministers' Kramar villa in Prague is one of the most beautiful places for a press conference she has ever seen.
(Ceske Noviny)
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