Village to hold local referendum on US base

Trokavec, a small village south-west of Prague which lies close to the projected site for a future US radar base, has called a local referendum on the issue. The village mayor Jan Neoral said that all of the inhabitants were strongly against the US base and he felt it was right that the local community should make its voice heard. The referendum is to take place on March 3rd. Other small towns in the vicinity are allegedly considering a similar move. They complain about a general lack of information and local inhabitants are fearful of the implications of living in close proximity to a radar base.

A decision on whether to allow the United States to build a radar base in the Czech Republic should be made by Parliament in the spring of next year. The governing Civic Democrats have strongly opposed calls for a national referendum on the issue, on the grounds that this is not the norm elsewhere in the world.