No final decision made on US radar base

Czech defence minister Martin Bartak told Russian diplomats at discussions in Moscow on Tuesday that no final decision has been made on installing a US radar base in this country. Russian Chief of Staff Yuri Baluyevsky told journalists after the talks that he urged the Czech Republic not to make a final decision on the radar base before the US presidential elections in autumn 2008, as a new American administration might change its mind about building it.

The United States wants to build a radar base in the Czech Republic as part of a proposed missile defence shield to protect it from possible attacks from so-called rogue states such as Iran. Russia perceives the move as a threat to its own security and has urged the Czech authorities not to allow the facility on its territory. The current coalition government is tentatively in favour of the radar base, but Mr Bartak stressed that talks were still underway between Russian and Czech representatives on the issue.