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| Signing of US-Czech deal on missile shield postponed |
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
PRAGUE: Next week’s signing of a deal to install an American radar base in the Czech Republic as part of Washington’s planned European missile defence shield has been postponed, officials said on Monday.
The Czech foreign ministry said there was no threat to the deal and that the signing had been delayed because US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was not available for the original dates of May 5 of May 6. The delay was “a matter of logistics,” explained Czech foreign ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova. Speaking later Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said the text could be signed in the Czech capital “during the first 10 days of June.”
The US plans, which are strongly opposed by Russia, will see a radar base near Prague aligned with a missile base in neighbouring Poland aimed at shooting down enemy projectiles. News of the delay came as Greenpeace activists broke into the Czech military base south of the capital where the radar base is due to be situated. “We don’t want to be targets,” said a banner unfurled on a hillside within the base, some 60-km southwest of Prague.
Opinion polls show around two thirds of Czechs are opposed to hosting the US radar. “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.” There have been a number of protests in the past few days in the Czech Republic in the build-up to the signing of deal by Topolanek. Opletavola said the delay was due to the fact that Rice was “unable to coordinate” a May 5 signing date.
“There is no need to go looking for a problem,” she insisted, although she refused to give any indication of a likely future date. Rice is scheduled to visit Britain, Israel and the West Bank between May 1 and 5 for talks on the Middle East peace process, Iran’s nuclear programme and Kosovo.
Preliminary negotiations on the US-Czech deal broke up last week without resolving the “Status of Forces Agreement” (SOFA) governing the US military presence in the country. “We agreed that it would be better to sign the two (SOFA and the radar accord) at the same time,” added Topolanek outside a cabinet meeting on Monday. Both accords must still be ratified by the Czech parliament after signing. The missile defence shield is expected to become operational between 2011 and 2013.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
