Deal on conditions for US military at radar base should come in autumn, says Czech defence minister

A deal on the conditions under which US military personnel would operate at a planned radar base in the Czech Republic should be agreed in the autumn, Czech Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanová told reporters during a visit to Washington. She said the main outstanding issue in talks on a ‘status of forces agreement’ was taxation. There had been speculation a treaty would be signed during the minister’s current visit to the US. American Secretary of Defence Robert Gates told his Czech counterpart that his country would go ahead with plans for a global missile defence shield regardless of who won the upcoming US presidential election.

Last week the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg signed a treaty in Prague on building a US radar base in central Bohemia. The deal has yet to be approved by the Czech Parliament.

US Navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea will provide ballistic missile defence to the Czech Republic as part of the radar deal, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, quoting American officials.