Czech village makes its voice heard on US radar base

By Katerina Zachovalova Mar 17, 2007, 23:05 GMT

Trokavec, Czech Republic - Despite his opposition to US plans to build an anti-missile shield facility nearby, Jan Neoral, the 65-year-old mayor of Trokavec, does not look the part of an avowed anti-American.

Dressed in a US-style country western bolo tie complete with a bison as a clasp, Neoral joined the trickle of voters heading out to vote on whether the shield should be built near this small village some 80 kilometres south-west of Prague.

'I am not anti-American. I like America. It's the country of freedom,' says Neoral, whose 87-year-old Arizona-based uncle supplies him with cowboy accessories.

'My uncle has lived there since 1951. He tells me about it, writes me about it, calls me about it. But, in spite of that, I don't want their radar base.'

On Saturday, Trokavec, whose its population recently increased by two to 100, was the first Czech municipality to hold a local plebiscite on the US military installation in its backyard.

Seventy-two out of 90 eligible voters participated. All but one authorized their council to take all legal steps possible to stop the US radar base from being built in the nearby military zone.

The Trokavec residents say they are afraid the radar would emit harmful radiation, cause real-estate prices to fall and natives to flee the area.

Fifty-six-year-old Marcela Dardova, dressed up for the occasion in black pants and a red jacket, enters the polling station at the local town hall with her husband, son and two grandchildren.

'I don't want it here, that radar. I have three children, six grandchildren and this has to do with their health,' she says, adding later, 'I worry they will want us to move out.'

Her eyes well up as she describes her family's ties to the village: 'My great grandmother lived here. I have deep roots here.'

Aside from those headaches, the villagers worry the US defence system, fiercely attacked by Russia, would spiral into new arms race and attract terrorists to this peaceful corner.

While the vote is not binding for anyone but the village council, the results reflect public's opposition to the planned US radar base, which the latest nationwide poll put at 70 per cent.

'It is a cry towards the government, so it does not continue doing what it is doing now,' Neoral says, explaining why a vote is being held that does not carry much weight.

Following in the Polish government's footsteps, the two-month-old center-right Czech cabinet is expected officially to enter into talks with Washington by the end of March, arguing that Europe would be better off joining the US defence system against missiles from so- called rogue states when it has a chance.

However, both houses of Czech parliament must approve the deployment of foreign troops on Czech soil. A result of the vote in the lower house, likely to take place in about a year, remains unpredictable.

The US facility's proponents have rejected a national referendum on the issue, suggesting that more information will clear up misconceptions and sway the public their way.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra, the opponents should be given more information so they can recognize that deploying the US radar 'is not a big deal.'

But Neoral, who describes the government's attitude as indifferent and arrogant, says no additional information could sway him Vondra's way.

'They lied to us so much that today we don't have any trust in them,' he says.