South Ossetia conflict best ad for radar in Czech Republic, says PM

The Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, says the best advertising campaign for a planned US radar base has been the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia. He made the comment in response to a question about the effectiveness of an official government campaign to win support for the radar, which the Americans plan to build in central Bohemia. Mr Topolánek’s words seem to contradict official Czech policy that the building of the radar base – part of a US global anti-missile defence system – is not linked to Russia, but to states such as Iran. Prague has signed the main treaty on the base with Washington and is expected to conclude a supplementary treaty this month. The Czech Parliament is then expected to vote on the matter later this year.