Prague rejects Moscow's plea as region votes against US radar

Jun 10, 2007, 12:39 GMT

Prague - In the dispute over the proposed US missile defence system in central Europe the Czech Republic Sunday rejected a plea by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to halt negotiations with the United States as another eight communities vote against the radar.

'I can't see a reason why we should stop our negotiations on Russia's request,' Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra said in Prague. 'If Moscow would like to talk to Washington, it can do so at the same time.'

Lavrov had called on the US to halt negotiations over the stationing of the missile shield. Russian proposals for a joint missile defence system based in Azerbaijan had to be discussed first, he insisted.

Meanwhile, another eight Czech communities have spoken out against plans to station a US radar system in their area. An overwhelming majority of people had voted against the plans in a number of local referenda, the authorities in Prague said Sunday.

Earlier on, other communities in the central Bohemian region had rejected the project.

The referenda do not have any binding force for the Czech government, but they are widely seen as an important test of public opinion.

According to polls, almost two-thirds of Czechs reject the plans for the US missile defence system.