Poll: one third of Czechs expect missile defence shield to be scrapped by Obama administration

Around one third of Czechs believe that plans for a US radar base to be built on Czech soil will be scrapped under the new Obama administration. Some 44 percent of Czechs, however, believe that an anti-missile defence shield will still be built in the coming years. The poll, conducted by the Factum Invenio agency and released on Friday, suggested that 70 percent of Czechs were opposed to plans for a US radar base in central Bohemia, while 25 percent were for the idea. Just under half of those polled said that they believed US-Russian relations would improve under the new administration; Russia has been one of the most outspoken critics of the proposed missile-defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland. The poll was released on the eve of President Barack Obama’s visit to Prague, he is set to meet European Union leaders and deliver a major speech in the Czech capital on Sunday.