In a bid to win support for deploying part of a missile defense shield in Central Europe, Lieutenant General Henry Obering, director of the U.S. missile defense program, Monday arrived in Prague to discuss technical aspects of the deployment of a missile defense radar in the country with Czech politicians.
Jiri Paroubek, former prime minister and the leader of the Social Democratic Party (CSSD), that holds 74 seats out of 200 in the Czech parliament's lower house, said his social democrats will not change their position on the issue and will demand from parliament that a nationwide referendum be held on the issue.
"The party's position on the placement of a U.S. missile defense radar in the Czech Republic has not changed," Paroubek said after a meeting with Gen. Obering, the Czech media reported.
Czech lawmakers visited on April 16 a U.S. military radar station on the Marshall Islands set for transfer to Central Europe. The radar, used for the past 10 years at the Marshall Islands military base, will be modernized before being moved to the Czech Republic. The overall cost of the U.S. radar deployment in the country is estimated at $550 million.
Prague announced at the end of March that it would soon start official negotiations with Washington over hosting the radar station. The U.S. official met Monday with incumbent Czech President Vaclav Klaus to reportedly discuss a possible date for the start of construction of a radar site in the country.
The U.S. missile defense plan has divided NATO members and provoked a furious response from Russia, which says the U.S. missile shield near its borders will pose a considerable threat to its national security and will destroy the balance of strategic forces in Europe.
But U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who is currently on a visit to Moscow, reiterated that the U.S. missile defense system in Central Europe will not be aimed at Russia.
Following talks with Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, Gates told journalists that the shield was intended to prevent potential aggressors in the Middle East and Asia from using their ballistic missiles to blackmail Europe or the U.S. and cause chaos.
He said rapid technological progress and the development of weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems suggested that current threats could grow even more sinister in 10 to 15 years.
Gates said he was aware of Russia's concerns and confirmed U.S. readiness to cooperate with Moscow on a whole range of issues related to the missile defense system.
The U.S. official said his country was inviting Russia to join its defense measures as a partner. He added that Russia and the U.S. would only win from such a partnership, while an inability to cooperate would be disadvantageous for both countries.
Gates proposed that joint scientific research and experiments be conducted, missile early warning information be exchanged and joint air defense operations be held, for instance as part of peacekeeping operations.
The U.S. administration announced April 21 that President George Bush will visit the Czech Republic June 4-5 and Poland June 8 for negotiations on Washington's missile shield plans.
