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Radar treaty to be signed in June

NATO head outlines base's European role in missile defense

By Markéta Hulpachová
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
May 7th, 2008 issue

Officials now say a Czech-U.S. radar treaty could be signed in June.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was expected to sign the treaty at an international missile-defense conference held May 5 in Prague. She could not attend, however, because of her busy schedule, U.S. officials said.
No new date has been set.
“It is likely Rice will come sometime in June to sign the treaty,” said Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalová.
Polls show about two-thirds of residents are against plans to build a U.S. radar base on Czech soil. It is expected to be built on the Brdy military grounds, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) southwest of Prague.
During the conference, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stressed the significance of the planned base and outlined its potential incorporation into a NATO missile-defense system.
Scheffer said a more comprehensive apparatus linking NATO, U.S. and national systems is needed to cover all European allies.
He also called U.S. plans to install the two-part defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic a “substantial contribution” to European security.
“We need both the U.S. missile-defense elements and other sensors and interceptors,” he said. “Several architectures are currently being studied, with a view to inform further debate and potential decisions at the next NATO summit in 2009.”
Scheffer’s statement addressed the concerns of a group of local deputies, who have said they will not agree to ratify a Czech-U.S treaty in Parliament until the radar is incorporated into NATO plans.
U.S. and local defense officials also discussed a separate treaty to allow about 100 U.S. soldiers to be based at Brdy. Terms of the Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA, are still being negotiated.
“The outstanding issues regarding SOFA are of a legal and technical nature,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Andrej Čírtek. “We hope negotiations will be completed as soon as possible.”
Čírtek said no date has been set to sign the agreement governing U.S. forces. It may be signed together with the radar treaty, according to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Vondra.
Local leaders, experts and diplomats, including U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Rood, attended the conference to discuss future and existing security threats and future transatlantic cooperation on missile defense.

Markéta Hulpachová can be reached at mhulpachova@praguepost.com


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