Communist legislator refused visa to visit radar base

In related news, a Communist MP, Alexandr Cerny, is one of two Czech parliamentarians who have been refused a visa by the US Embassy in Prague for a planned trip by legislators to view the United States' missile defence radar system on the Marshall Islands. The head of the Communist Party Vojtech Filip has said he has sent a written complaint to US Ambassador Richard Graber. But the US Embassy in Prague responded to the news on Friday with an official statement explaining that the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs had agreed to provide a final list of participants in time for processing, but that two legislators' names were put forward 24 hours late. Both are from different political parties. In its statement the US Embassy stressed that the processing of US diplomatic visas was "uniform" regardless of "country, nationality, or party affiliation".