Ministry spokesman: all major issues resolved in radar deal

The Czech Republic and the United States have reached agreement on the conditions to set up a US anti-missile base in the country, a defence ministry spokesman has said. Andrej Čírtek told the AFP news agency on Tuesday that all major issues had been solved, adding the Czech government could be expected to discuss the proposed Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) in September. A key follow-up agreement, it had been held up by a wrangle between Prague and Washington over taxes. Mr Čírtek said that that issue had now been solved, but did not provide details. Sealing the SOFA agreement paves the way for the Czech government to seek parliamentary approval for the US anti-missile package. The main deal on the base was signed back in July by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.