Obama: Missile shield to go ahead only when technology proven

US president elect Barack Obama will only back a global missile defence shield that would be part based in the Czech Republic when the technology is proven to work. A senior aide of Mr Obama’s made the comments in reaction to a statement from the president of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, who said the next US president had assured him the project would be continued. If it goes ahead, interceptor missiles will be based in Poland, linked to a tracking radar in the Czech Republic.

Prague has already signed two treaties on the radar with Washington, though the deployment of US soldiers on Czech soil has not yet been ratified by the Czech Parliament. A vote is expected next year. Opinion polls have consistently suggested most Czechs are opposed to the radar.