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Czech Government Says No To US Missile Shield Referendum
Prague (AFP) Jan 31, 2007 Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolonek said Wednesday his government opposed holding a referendum on plans for the United States to build part of an anti-missile shield in the country. "We do not recommend the referendum", he was quoted as saying by the Czech news agency CTK, as he formally presented the issue to members of four parliamentary committees meeting in joint session. On January 20 Washington officially asked Prague to accept a radar station as part of its anti-ballistic missile shield and Warsaw to agree to take anti-missile interceptors. "The decision-making power is entirely in the hands of the parliamentarians," Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova told the joint session. An agreement needs the consent of two thirds of the two houses of the Czech parliament and is far from certain in view of the vigorous reaction to the US request. Meanwhile the Czech government is preparing its official response to the United States, probably backing the opening of talks, Topolanek said. They will last until the end of the year and if they end in an agreement with the United States building work on the radar station will begin in 2008 to 2010 and the first tests will be conducted in 2011-12, he said. In the talks Prague will not follow Warsaw's reported example and ask for Patriot anti-missile missiles to protect its territory, Czech media reported. "We shall not ask for Patriots," Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar said, according to CTK. But Topolanek, questioned by the agency, did not rule out including the issue in the talks. The Russian foreign ministry said recently that deployment of elements of the shield in the Czech Republic and Poland would be a "mistake" and would have "negative consequences for international security".
Source: Agence France-Presse Related Links Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Polish Lawmakers To Debate US Missile Plan
Warsaw (AFP) Jan 30, 2007Lawmakers in Poland will be given the chance to debate plans to site part of a US anti-ballistic missile system in the country, Polish President Lech Kaczynski said on Tuesday. "This is a subject which must be discussed by all the parties represented in parliament," Kaczynski said in an interview with Polish public radio. Representatives of all parliamentary parties were set to meet for initial talks on the issue in the coming days, Kaczynski added. |
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