U.S., Czech Republic Could Soon Sign Radar Deal

The United States and the Czech Republic by early May could sign a deal to place a U.S. missile defense radar in the European nation, RIA Novosti reported (see GSN, March 6).

“The negotiations on the main radar agreement should be completed by the Bucharest NATO summit next week, but it will be ready for signing at the end of April or the beginning of May at the latest,” Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar told the Hospodarske Noviny daily.

The signing could occur April 28 during a visit to Washington by Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.  Another possible date is May 5, which corresponds to a NATO conference on missile defense and the anniversary of anti-Nazi actions in Prague at the end of World War II.

In return, the Czech government is looking for access to no less than five U.S. military research efforts and a visa waiver deal with Washington (RIA Novosti, March 25).

Meanwhile, senior U.S. and Russian officials are scheduled to conduct further talks this week on the Bush administration’s plans for the Czech radar and deployment of 10 missile interceptors in Poland, ITAR-Tass reported (see GSN, March 21).

The meeting would follow last week’s visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Moscow, where they discussed proposals aimed at overcoming Russian opposition to the plan.

“We expect that Russia and the U.S. may hold the [antiballistic missile] consultations just this week.  We intend to reveal our position on new U.S. proposals … and discuss the whole spectrum of issues related to [the] antiballistic missile complex,” a Russian diplomat said.

Moscow has complained often about the missile defense plan, characterizing it as a threat to Russian strategic security.  Washington has offered to allow Russian officials to inspect the sites, among other confidence-building measures.

“The proposals are being studied by all the agencies, which are in charge of this multilayer problem.  We’ll make the impression in the near future and tell everyone.  But first of all we’ll inform our American colleagues about this,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (ITAR-Tass, March 24).

The U.S. State Department confirmed yesterday that acting Undersecretary of State John Rood would head the agency team meeting Wednesday with a Russian group led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak (U.S. State Department release, March 24).

Russian President-elect Dmitry Medvedev has also expressed concern about the missile defense plan, the Financial Times reported yesterday.

“Of course we are not happy about the fact that plans are actively being implemented related to the third positional region for missile defense,” he told the newspaper.  “We consider that such types of decisions break the fragile balance of forces and facilities in Europe, and not only in Europe.

“We did not start all this but we need to move somewhere in order to make sure the situation does not radically deteriorate,” Medvedev added.  “The talks have taken place and the initiatives that our American partners brought are being considered” (Financial Times, March 24).

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev yesterday dismissed U.S. statements that the European missile defense sites would be established to provide a defense against Iran, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 24).

“That’s complete nonsense,” he told Czech public television.  “Iran poses no threat.  It is possible to deal with Iran with different means, if necessary.

“The entire system is directed against Russia and China, that’s how we understand it,” Gorbachev added (Associated Press/Kiev Post, March 25).

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