PM Fiala: Genuine discussions on US bases in CR not taking place

The Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, has appeared to pour cold water over talk of US soldiers being based in the Czech Republic. The minister of defence, Jana Černochová, said at the weekend that she would raise the matter in Washington after Easter. However, Mr. Fiala told the news site Aktuálně.cz on Tuesday that the idea sounded nice but genuine discussions about it were not actually taking place.

On Sunday the minister of labour and social affairs, Marian Jurečka, mentioned two possible locations for US bases.

Opposition leader Andrej Babiš has called for a referendum on any such deployment of American soldiers, saying he is against the idea.