Czech Republic in talks to host facility for Obama missile shield

Jul 30, 2010, 14:02 GMT

Prague - Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said Friday that the Czech Republic was in talks to host an early-warning facility for a US missile defence system revamped under President Barack Obama.

The office would collect information from system's satellite sensors and issue advance warning in case missiles are fired at NATO member states, Necas said.

The proposed facility appears to be more modest than a radar station planned for the Czech Republic under the administration of Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, which had been fiercely opposed by Russia.

The largely administrative facility would be likely located in or near the capital Prague and would be probably staffed with 'several' Czech personnel, the premier said.

Obama shelved the Bush-era plan - to place the radar base manned by US soldiers in a military zone one hour south-west of Prague - in September 2009. He also dropped a related plan to place a missile- shield base in Poland.

The decision sparked resentment among some Czech conservative politicians, who had given strong political backing the first US scheme, despite it being largely unpopular with the Czech public.

US officials held talks in Prague several times since Obama changed his country's missile defence plans, but the character of the potential Czech involvement in the updated, NATO-integrated system was not specified until Friday.

Necas said that the new plan would probably not require parliamentary approval, given that no US troops would be deployed on Czech soil.