Military removes wire fence around “radar” site

The Czech military on Thursday started removing the three-kilometer wire fence around the site of a planned U.S. radar base in Brdy, south-west of Prague. Defense Minister Martin Barták, appointed two weeks ago, ordered the fence be removed on the grounds that it is no longer serving any purpose and the future of the planned radar base is uncertain. The fence was put up in June 2008 after Greenpeace activists blocked the site for six weeks in protest against the base. Six Greenpeace activists turned up on Thursday to celebrate its removal.

It emerged this week that the interim government due to lead the country until early general elections will not send the issue of a planned US radar base to the lower house of parliament, leaving the matter in the hands of the next administration. While the Senate approved Czech-US treaties allowing for the placing of a radar base in central Bohemia, ex-prime minister Mirek Topolánek withdrew the matter from the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies due to a lack of support. It is not clear whether America plans to go ahead with the construction of an anti-missile shield project developed by the previous administration.