Peace activists slam decision to host US anti-missile radar station

Formal talks between the United States and the Czech Republic will begin soon on placing part of America's Missile Defence Shield on Czech territory. The Czech Republic will most likely host a radar and tracking station - a controversial step for a country that once hosted Soviet military installations. The move must still be approved by parliament, although no referendum is planned. The Prague-based American peace activist Gwendolyn Albert explained to Radio Prague why she opposed the missile defence system.

Photo: CTK

"The efficacy of it has been questioned for decades now. Senator Carl Levin, who is the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told the press last fall that the Pentagon has not done the operational testing to convince people the system would work. This entire discussion is about something that may not actually work. It may just be a bluff and a Boondoggle that's costing a lot of people a lot of time and money."

Nonetheless though the American government has asked the Czech government and they have said yes.

Photo: CTK

"Yes. The government of the Czech Republic, both on the issue of for example joining NATO and on this issue, has not sufficiently consulted or informed its own citizens and that's why there was this demonstration."

A demonstration attended by 150 people.

"150 people, yes. But the movement to oppose this has been going on a lot longer that, and the petition has been going around for a lot longer than that. The local concern is that placing this radar in this country would not increase this country's security. It would decrease it. And the reasoning is - if anybody were actually to want to take out part of this system, one of the first logical points to attack would in fact be the radar, in order to dismantle it."

Photo: CTK

The Czech Republic has made a conscious effort to reorient its foreign policy towards the United States and it's a loyal ally of the United States. What's wrong with helping out the United States on a system that will be beneficial to all of Europe's security?

"The Czech Republic, while it is a loyal ally of the United States, is also part of the European Union. And while the European Union is having its growing pains, it's trying to position itself at least as a neutral area. This is really a way of the United States projecting its power not only into the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe but into the European Union. And I'm not so entirely sure that's wise at this point in time."