Better Part of Czechia Opposes U.S. Military Base
Washington will decide on setting up a military base of ballistic missile defense in one of the states of the Central Europe no sooner than in December, Prague’s Pravo reported Saturday referring to Stefan Fulle, the Czech envoy to NATO. The final decision will be made only after the Riga summit of NATO that is slated for November 28 to 29, the diplomat said. In Washington, they apparently count on the joint support of the alliance to influence nationals of Czechia and Poland, who are not very eager to see the U.S. bases on their soil.
Having studied the territory for possible deployment of military bases in Poland and Czechia, the Pentagon experts chose the rocky area close to Libava settlement, Czechia. In late August, a delegation of Czech diplomats and military went to Washington to see the computer version of the U.S. future system of ballistic missile defense aimed at standing up to threats of such unpredictable states as North Korea and Iran.
Nevertheless, even the key lobbyists of the U.S. base in Czechia – the recently checked-out Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda and Defense Minister Karel Kuehnl – turned out not briefed enough to persuade the public at large. New Foreign Minister of Czechia Alexander Vondra proved short of the definite facts as well.
The opponents of deployment, Czech Social Democratic and Communist Parties, didn’t miss the chance and called for a referendum, which results will hardly be advantageous to the United States. The recent poll of the Czech Mlada Fronta Dnes showed that 83 percent in Czechia strongly object to setting up any foreign base on their soil. In Poland, by the way, the number of the U.S. base supporters shed from 63 percent to 36 percent over the past half-year.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 11, 2006
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