Another Czech village rejects US radar base in referendum

Most participants in a referendum in the village of Hvozdany rejected the construction of a US radar base in the Czech Brdy military grounds. The referendum was attended by 409 out of the 630 eligible voters, with 381 or 95 percent of them against the plan, Mayor Stanislav Kramosil said. Hvozdany has about 800 residents and is situated some five kilometres from the planned site. There have been a number of local referenda on the plan; all of them have rejected the plan. Results of local referenda are binding neither for the government nor parliament.

The first round of Czech-US talks on the radar base was completed in May. The talks are to last several months. The USA expects the Czechs to give a clear final answer regarding the base after January 1, 2008. Most of the Czech public are still against the plan, while the government, headed by the Civic Democratic Party, advocates it.