{news} Fw: USGP-INT Some Czech Greens MPs oppose U.S. base even after NATOsummit

[Justine McCabe]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: jdt at itol.com 
To: usgp-int at gp-us.org 
Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2008 8:10 AM
Subject: USGP-INT Some Czech Greens MPs oppose U.S. base even after NATOsummit


Some Czech Greens MPs oppose U.S. base even after NATO summit
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=305888
Prague- Two of the six MPs for the Greens, the smallest Czech government coalition party, continue to oppose the possible stationing of a U.S. radar base on Czech soil after NATO's Bucharest summit where the allies took an accommodating attitude towards the project, the two MPs told. 
Moreover, Greens MP Ondrej Liska, who is party deputy chairman and education minister, said he had doubts about the construction of the radar in the Czech Republic. 

Greens MPs Olga Zubova and Vera Jakubkova said the summit did not change their negative stance on the base. 

Jakubkova said a majority of the Green Party rank-and-file seemed to be against the project, which is why she opposed it. 

Zubova said the base was "unacceptable" for her. She pointed out that the condition of the Greens congress had not been fulfilled. 

The party congress held in February 2007 demanded that the radar base be part of the NATO structures and missile defence systems. 

Jakubkova said the NATO summit did not result in any binding decision on the issue. 

However, Jakubkova said she would make her final decision only after studying the Czech-U.S. treaties on the base. Zubova said she would take into consideration the recommendations of her party. 

The allies agreed at the summit on Thursday that the U.S. radar base would be an integral part of any future NATO-based missile defence architecture. The summit also acknowledged that the radar on Czech soil and interceptor missiles in Poland would markedly strengthen the protection of the allies. 

The United States wants to station the radar at the Brdy military district some 90 km southwest of Prague. 

The centre-right government of Mirek Topolanek (Civic Democrats, ODS) supports the project, while the left-wing opposition is against it. 

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (for the Greens) said he believed the summit's conclusions met the demands that the Green Party formulated. 

Greens leader Martin Bursik, too, said he believed the condition that the U.S. radar base is related to NATO was fulfilled. 

But Liska said though the summit's statement was a positive step, NATO did not clearly state that the radar base would be part of its structures. 

Liska previously admitted that not all Green MPs might support the radar base in the lower house. 

Apart from this, Christian Democrat MP Ludvik Hovorka said he had some reservations about the base. Hovorka was the only coalition MP who did not support the government finance reform, the major reform the government proposed last year. 

The government coalition is able to push bills through parliament only thanks to the support of two MPs who left the opposition Social Democrats (CSSD). The Czech-U.S. treaties on the base need to be ratified by the parliament to take effect. 

The radar project is unlikely to be passed in the lower house unless all coalition MPs vote for it. 

Author: È





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