The United States and Brazil's president tries to salvage Doha talks ...
Vietnam halts labour migration to Czech Republic ...
Czech, US experts close talks on industrial cooperation agreement ...
Rice says Czechs might travel to USA visa-free by year end ...
Germany Rally But Croatia Hang on to Celebrate Crucial 2-1 Win ... Poland agreed on the base with ten interceptor missiles on Thursday.
The USA promised to move one Patriot missile battery to Poland within the deal. The united States has already signed a treaty on stationing a radar base in the Czech Republic. Czech lower house defence committee head Jan Vidim (senior ruling Civic Democrats, ODS) said Warsaw focused on security issues in its negotiations with the United States more than Prague because Poland borders on Russia. "Poland feels more threatened than we do," Vidim said. He said the Poles consider the United States a guarantee of their safety. He added that the Czech Republic should not fear building U.S. bases on its soil. Lower house foreign committee head Jan Hamacek (senior opposition Social Democrats, CSSD) said the Czech Republic should have negotiated about the base only after the forthcoming U.S. presidential elections. Hamacek said the U.S. promise to locate Patriot missiles in Poland indicated that George Bush's Republican administration wanted to reach agreement with the Poles before it leaves. The election's favourite is Democratic candidate Barack Obama. The Polish interceptor missiles were the part of the missile defence that was challenged the most in the U.S. Congress according to U.S. Democrats, Hamacek pointed out. CSSD shadow defence minister Petr Hulinsky said he believed the U.S.-Polish treaty showed Poland's ability to negotiate and strengthen the security of its territory. "If the Czech Republic had proceeded in a similar way, the risks related to stationing the radar on Czech soil could be more acceptable for the Czech public," Hulinsky said. He said the government has ignored the opinion of the public, recalling that it rejected a referendum on the issue. Pavel Severa, head of the junior ruling Christian Democrat (KDU-CSL) deputies' group, pointed out that the Czech-U.S. treaty, too, guaranteed that the United States would protect the Czech Republic in a special way. Severa said the Polish-U.S. talks were probably influenced by Russia's actions in the armed conflict in Georgia. Greens (junior ruling SZ) MP Katerina Jacques said the agreement between the United States and Poland was important for the decisions to be made on the U.S. radar on Czech soil. She said the position of the newly elected U.S. president on the missile defence project would be of key importance. Communist (junior opposition KSCM) leader Vojtech Filip said the Polish-U.S. treaty was an unfortunate step that would weaken the European Union. Filip warned against Poland serving the interests of the U.S. foreign policy and military. Though the Czech Republic and the United States have already signed the main treaty on the radar, they are yet to complete the talks on the SOFA treaty on the operation of U.S. troops in the country. However, both treaties need to be ratified in Czech parliament where the government may not find sufficient support for the missile defence project.
(Ceske Noviny)
more info >>
<< Back