Pat Dollard

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How you like them apples Vlad? Or is Czeck next on your list of countries to invade?

Sept 17, 2008

AFP – A Czech-US agreement on deploying US soldiers at an anti-missile radar will be signed on Friday in London, an official from the Czech ministry of defence told AFP.

“Czech Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates will sign the SOFA agreement in London Friday as well as a declaration of strategic cooperation,” ministry spokesman Andrej Cirtek said.

The agreement completes an initial deal Prague and Washington signed in July to base a powerful radar system in the Czech Republic to support a battery of 10 interceptor missiles in neighbouring Poland.

The United States says the system is designed to prevent potential attacks from “rogue states” like Iran. The project angers Moscow, which says the plan is a threat to its security and has threatened to respond with targeted attacks on the missile shield’s future sites.

The area and buildings, on a former Soviet military base at Brdy, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of Prague, will remain Czech property, and Czech forces will be responsible for its protection and external security.

The Czech parliament will give the two treaties a first reading in October, with a final reading expected to take place in December.

The parliament will then vote on whether to ratify the treaty or not. If the vote is too close to call, judges will decide if ratification requires a simple majority — 101 votes out of 200, or a constitutional majority — 120 votes out of 200.

The parliament is currently equally spilt on the issue, according to experts. The liberals, Christian democrats and the greens widely support the agreement. The social democrats and the communist party oppose the deal.

Two thirds of Czechs oppose the project, surveys say.