Czech and US negotiators launch talks on status of US soldiers at radar base

Czech and American negotiators have begun another round of talks on a treaty defining conditions under which US soldiers will be deployed at a planned US radar base in central Bohemia. Issues to be resolved before the signing of a status of forces agreement include the legal status of US personnel at the base, income tax payment and the insurance of US vehicles. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek said there was at least one issue on which the Czech Republic would not back down. However, he said he believed a deal would be reached within the next two weeks, allowing the status of forces agreement to be signed in May at the same time as the already published main agreement on the building of the radar. The Czech Parliament still has to vote on the matter.

Russia, which has expressed strong reservations about the planned radar base and a linked missile base in Poland, wants to hold talks with Prague, Warsaw and Washington on allowing its experts to inspect the sites, ITAR-TASS reported. Both the Czech Republic and Poland are opposed to allowing Russian military personnel on their soil.

Meanwhile, the Czech Defence Ministry has refused the Communist Party permission to hold an anti-radar demonstration at the proposed site of the US base on the Brdy military grounds in central Bohemia. The radar would be part of a US global missile defence shield.