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August 22nd, 2008
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On the trail of Condoleezza Rice

Eight hours of tracking the U.S. secretary of state on her radar visit
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By Ondřej Bouda
Staff Writer, The Prague Post

MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
The pro-radar group Inciativa Pro met with Rice, a noted pianist, and asked her to perform. She said, "I'll play when the radar is here."
MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
Despite her exact arrival time being top secret, Rice exited her plane to a waiting throng of journalists and a wall of security personnel.
After the treaty



Martin Kadrman, a university student from east Bohemia, filed charges July 8 against Schwarzenberg for high treason, sabotage and misuse of office
Russia threatened military retaliation if the radar and missile base are built in the Czech Republic and Poland. But, General Yevgeni Buzhinsky promised during a July 8 Prague visit that Russia will not bomb the country
The amount of oil flowing into the Czech Republic from Russia dropped July 11. Experts say that, instead of 500,000 tons of oil, less than 300,000 will be delivered in July. Russia says the reduction was caused by a technical problem
Iran tested nine missiles July 9. The Shahab 3's strike distance of around 2,000 kilometers could hit Turkey or Israel with a 1-ton conventional warhead. Iran is not yet believed to have the capability to strike European or U.S. soil
The EU's foreign affairs representative, Javier Solana, declined to comment on the treaty. His office said this is a bilateral Czech-U.S. issue and does not relate to the EU

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s July 8 visit to Prague wasn’t confirmed until the Friday before, and the late notice combined with strict security created chaos among government staff and journalists alike.
Foreign Affairs Ministry clerks seemed caught off guard when journalists wanted to be at the airport to see Rice arrive. “There are no plans for journalists to come to the airport because no one asked us,” deputy spokesman Jiří Beneš told me Monday morning.
Eventually, the U.S. Embassy allowed journalists on-site but asked everyone to arrive at 8 a.m. and declined to say when the plane would actually land. Thankfully, it’s always possible to obtain even top secret information in the Czech Republic, and I called a friend who works at the airport. “The plane should land at 10:10,” she said.
Indeed after waiting for two hours, Rice’s plane rolled to a stop in front of assembled journalists. She descended the steps, and a small welcoming ceremony took place. However, it was behind a row of armored cars that quickly drew in front of the plane, blocking the journalists’ view. By 10:20 she was on her way to a hotel.
The day that followed was more of the same — long stretches of waiting followed by brief spurts of furious activity. For security reasons, arrival times for journalists were at least an hour before each planned event, which included a 1 p.m. press conference with Rice and Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and the 3 p.m. treaty signing with Rice and Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. However, the schedule kept changing.
“We are sorry, but due to extra security measures implemented by the American side, we had to move the arrival time for journalists forward two hours,” came a phone call from the Foreign Affairs Ministry regarding the 3 p.m. treaty signing. This meant that one person could not cover Rice’s entire visit alone. After a lot of pleading and arguing, officials provided a bus for desperate journalists and transported us from one location to the other — in the process bypassing several orders of the U.S. secret services.
The treaty was signed and dutifully applauded by attending officials. At the time, no one seemed to realize that the table, and probably the chairs, had been used in the signing of another historic treaty. In 1968, Czechoslovak and Soviet prime ministers Oldřich Černík and Alexey Kosygin sat at the same table when they signed documents allowing Soviet troops to stay in Czechoslovakia after the August invasion.
“It’s the table we use for signing international treaties. I couldn’t possibly know what table has been used here in the past,” Schwarzenberg said later, when the press pointed out the eerie coincidence. “And, anyway, the furniture is not responsible for what is signed.”
A sizable resistance
Officials feared protest events throughout the day, but no large-scale rally materialized until the evening. One small incident does merit mentioning though. After Schwarzenberg exited the ministry building following the treaty signing, he wanted to shake hands with several demonstrators gathered. But suddenly an unknown missile was launched at Schwarzenberg, and a bodyguard jumped to shield him from the impact of what turned out to be a tomato.
“Clearly the attackers bought tomatoes in a supermarket because it just bounced off,” Schwarzenberg later told journalists. “I advise them to buy organic tomatoes next time. They’ll splash and cover me in juice.”
The only large protest took place in the evening, when just under 2,000 radar opponents assembled on Wenceslas Square.
“They promised us no more foreign troops after the revolution and now they are inviting Americans and making us a target,” said protester Eva Rybnikářová. “The government has yet to explain what exactly the radar will be defending us from. The only threat to global security is the U.S. arms race and their greed,” she also said.
Several communist politicians attended the rally to show their support. “We should not be driving a wedge into European unity and we definitely don’t want to become just another star on the American flag,” said Vojtěch Filip, chairman of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia.
The radar debate is far from over. With the signing of the treaty, one battle has been won by its supporters, but the war rages on. “We want to continue protests and we will lobby politicians who will now have to ratify the treaty. We have to convince them this is not in the best interest of the country,” said Jan Tamáš, spokesman of the No Bases Initiative group.

Ondřej Bouda can be reached at news@praguepost.com


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