U.S., Czech Republic Sign Missile Defense Deal

The Czech Republic today formally agreed to become home to a U.S. missile defense radar, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 7).

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed the agreement in Prague.

“It's truly a landmark agreement,” Rice said.  “It is an agreement that is befitting for friends and allies who face a common threat in the 21st century.”

Iran continues to develop its long-range missile capabilities while refusing to suspend sensitive nuclear activities, she said.  “Ballistic missile proliferation is not an imaginary threat,” according to Rice.

Czech lawmakers must still sign off on the agreement, along with a related pact addressing the status of U.S. military personnel stationed at the radar installation (Lachlan Carmichael, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 8).

The ruling government lacks the seats in parliament to ensure approval of the deal, meaning it would need support from opposition lawmakers, the Associated Press reported.  However, those parties have expressed deep concerns about the radar site and have pushed for a national referendum on the proposal (Associated Press I/PR-inside, July 8).

Schwarzenberg argued, though, that “there are sufficient lawmakers who are sufficiently aware of their responsibility and will go forward in strength during the voting," AFP reported  (Carmichael, AFP).

Roughly two-thirds of Czech citizens also object to the base, AP reported.

The early warning radar would work with 10 missile interceptors the Bush administration hopes to deploy in Poland.  The Defense Department wants the sites, intended to counter missile threats from Iran or other nations, to begin operations around 2012.

Talks with Poland have proven significantly more difficult than the negotiations with the Czech Republic.  Warsaw wants billions of dollars in U.S. aid for military modernization efforts, including missile defenses to help ensure its security once the interceptors are deployed (AP I).

“The fundamental issue that must be resolved is in what way the American installations are going to be protected from an eventual missile attack, and in what way Poland is going to be protected from an eventual ballistic missile attack,” Defense Minister Bogdan Klich told Polish television.

The U.S. interceptors would not provide Poland with defenses against short- or medium-range missiles, Klich said.  For that, he said, the nation would need U.S. Patriot systems.

“It is extremely important that Patriots be stationed in Poland,” Klich said.  “Poland has no functioning antimissile system right now.  We have a good air-defense system that allows us to defend our territory against eventual enemy planes, but we are unfortunately defenseless against missiles.”

Following a meeting yesterday with Rice in Washington, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said he believed the two nations could reach a deal before August on placing Patriots in Poland.

Klich expressed less optimism:  “All variants are open” (Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, July 8).

Rice today also could not say whether the two nations would reach agreement following 18 months of talks, Reuters reported.  Washington has identified Lithuania as a possible fallback site should negotiations with Warsaw end without a deal.

“We have told them what we can do. … There are still some issues, so I can’t say for certain what the trajectory is, but it was a constructive meeting yesterday,” she said (Arshad Mohammed, Reuters/Yahoo!News, July 8).

Rise indicated she was not likely to stop in Poland for further missile defense diplomacy during her visit to Europe this week, AP reported (Associated Press III/Google News, July 8).

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