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Poland and the Czech Republic PDF Print E-mail
As well as Fylingdales and Menwith Hill in Britain, the US is seeking to build two Missile Defence military bases in eastern Europe; one in Poland and one in the Czech Republic.

The proposed base at Brdy, south of Prague in the Czech Republic would host an X-Band radar which provides high-definition tracking of missiles and warheads en route to the US whilst the proposed base at Gorsko, on Poland's Baltic coast, would house missiles - initially just 10 - which would be launched to intercept 'enemy missiles.'

nz.jpgThe US in still in negotiations with the governments of both countries but there is concern that European citizens and their parliaments are not being made fully aware of the consequences of such involvement in US Missile Defence. The majority of citizens in both countries are opposed to the system, with polls in the Czech Republic in particular showing a regular two-thirds of the population opposed. Civil society organisations campaigning against the bases have emerged in both countries, leading public opposition, including Ne Zakladnam (No to Bases) and the League of Mayors in the Czech Republic, and the anti-war movement Stop Wojnie in Poland.

Other European states have expressed concern that bi-lateral deals between the US and both Poland and the Czech Republic will have a negative effect on their national security. Politicians across Europe, but particularly in neighbouring states in Germany, Austria and Slovakia have expressed opposition to the US proposals. A recent European Parliament debate highlighted concerns across the political spectrum.

Russia remains resolutely opposed to the system which it believes it is the target of. Their concerns, including the possibility of a US first-strike, are highlighted in a number of academic journals, including Foreign Affairs.

NATO, a military alliance between the US, Canada and 24 European states, is considering the development of a limited theatre missile defence system to protect its troops in battle. A programme for such a system was approved in 2005. The US has suggested that the proposed extension of the US Missile Defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland could also combine components of the new NATO programme to form an integrated European missile defence system. However European concerns with US Missile Defence are heightened due to NATO member governments not being allowed to access clarified risk assessments that NATO has been carrying out since the 1990s.

 
  • On 17th March 2009 the Czech government of Mirek Topolanek was forced to temporarily withdraw treaties agreed with the US to station a US Missile Defence radar when it was clear it was set to lose the necessary ratification vote tabled by the opposition. Read the Czech news story here.
  • Ahead of the July 2008 Party of European Socialists conference in Vienna, CND and Ne Zakladnam appealed to Britain's Labour Party, the Czech Social Democrat Party and all their European sister parties to oppose US Missile Defence at the 2009 European elections.
    To read the appeal click here.
  • April 2008 Westminster Hall debate held on the Foreign Affairs Committee's Global Security: Russia report.
    Read the debate here.
  • Lubomír Zaorálek, the Czech Social Democrat shadow Foreign Minister addressed a CND meeting at Westminster in January 2008.
    Read a report and watch a video clip of the meeting here.
  • The Ministry of Defence has been accused by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee of manipulating parliament through the manner in which Secretary of State Des Browne announced that Menwith Hill was to be used as part of the US Missile Defence system
    Read the relevant section of the report here.