Czech gov't: Rice to arrive in Prague Tuesday to sign radar base treaty
www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-05 06:04:10   Print

    PRAGUE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will arrive in Prague on Tuesday to sign the treaty on the stationing of a U.S. radar base on Czech soil, the Czech government's website said on Friday.

    Rice is expected to land in Prague in the late morning on Tuesday. Before noon, she is to meet Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek in the prime minister's Kramar villa.

    The Czech Foreign Ministry's press department said on Friday Rice and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg will sign the treaty in the Cernin Palace, the Foreign Ministry's seat, on Tuesday afternoon.

    The treaty still need to be approved by Czech parliament and President Vaclav Klaus.

    Negotiations about other agreements related to the main treaty have not been completed yet.

    On Wednesday morning, Rice may fly to Poland where a silo with ten interceptor missiles, another part of the planned U.S. missile defense shield in Europe, is to be located.

    U.S.-Polish talks on the treaty are still underway, Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich told journalists on Thursday.

    The United States has planned to build a radar base at the Brdy military district, some 90 kilometers southwest of the Czech capital Prague, along with an interceptor missile base in Poland.

    Russia is strongly opposed to the deployment of the system, saying the plan poses a threat to its strategic interests. Some 70percent of Czech citizens also reportedly oppose the project.

Editor: Yan Liang
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