U.S.-Czech Missile Defense Agreement Delayed

The United States and the Czech Republic are now looking to sign a missile defense radar deal in June rather than May as previously anticipated, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 25).

“We have tried for May 5, but we did not succeed,” Czech Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova said yesterday.  She did not elaborate.

Prague and Washington have come to a tentative agreement on deploying a U.S. early warning radar in the Czech Republic as part of the Bush administration’s missile defense program for Europe.  The two nations are still negotiating a related treaty addressing taxes and the legal standing of U.S. military personnel at the installation.  Czech lawmakers must sign off on both pacts.

The system would also incorporate missile interceptors in Poland (see GSN, March 26).  It has faced strong opposition from Russia (see GSN, April 21).

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not have time to travel to the Czech Republic for a signing next month, said spokesman Sean McCormack.  “She will be signing an agreement, there’s no substantive disagreement, it’s just about working out the timing,” he said.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek indicated that both treaties could be signed in June, AP reported.

Meanwhile, activists with the environmental organization Greenpeace yesterday occupied the military area expected to house the radar (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, April 28).

“We don’t want to be targets,” they declared in a banner.

Roughly two-thirds of Czech residents oppose deployment of the U.S. radar in their nation, according to opinion polls.

“Our protesters have established a base camp and they have also climbed trees and installed platforms,” said Greenpeace spokeswoman Lenka Borakova.  “We intend to say here as long as possible, until they can dislodge us” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 28).

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