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Czech Republic, US sign missile defence pact
The United States and the Czech Republic signed a treaty Tuesday allowing Washington to build part of a missile defence shield in the central European state despite opposition from its former Cold War master Russia.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:07 July 9, 2008
Prague: The United States and the Czech Republic signed a treaty on Tuesday allowing Washington to build part of a missile defence shield in the central European state despite opposition from its former Cold War master Russia.
The deal to create a radar station southwest of Prague was marred by a failure to seal a corresponding pact with Poland, where Washington wants to put 10 interceptor rockets that would be guided by the Czech site.
Washington says the shield would defend it and its European allies against missile attacks from a foe such as Iran, and points to intelligence suggesting Tehran could develop a long-range missile capable of striking its soil by 2015.
"This missile defence agreement is significant as a building block, not just for the security of the United States and of the Czech Republic, but for the security of Nato and ultimately for the security of the international community," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
Rice, who signed the treaty with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, all but ruled out going to neighbouring Poland after meeting its foreign minister on Monday.
Talks with Warsaw have run into a snag over Warsaw's demands for billions of dollars to modernise its army and air defences.
Rice said Monday's negotiations had been constructive but would not predict whether the two sides would reach a deal.
"I believe strongly that we are at a place where these negotiations need to come to a conclusion," Rice told reporters. "We are going to have to see if we can close the remaining gap."
She said missile proliferation was "not an imaginary threat" and noted Iran continued to enrich uranium - which could lead to a nuclear weapon - despite international demands it stop.
Bases near Russia
Russia says the shield is a threat and has threatened to aim nuclear missiles at central Europe if it is deployed. The US says the ten rockets are no match for Russia's atomic arsenal.
The US was willing to make arrangements to make the system transparent to Moscow, but Russia would also have to discuss this directly with the Czech Republic, the Secretary of State said.
Political analysts say the planned bases in the former Soviet bloc would raise US security interests in the region at a time when Russia is growing more assertive about its role on the global stage.
"Moscow, of course, sees the move as a provocation and as a long-term security threat, and will seek to extract a hefty geopolitical or strategic price for going along," said Alexandr Kliment, an analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
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