Speaker of the lower house of Czech parliament Miloslav Vlcek who begins his visit to Russia on Monday is utterly against deployment of a US radar in the Czech Republic. He said this in an interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta published on Monday, noting that the national Constitution “does not envisage the construction of foreign military bases in the Czech Republic.”
“In this connection, we consider the possibility of referring the matter to the Constitutional Court,” he said. “This can prevent the situation when so serious a question can be decided by one or two votes,” he said.
“I am against an American radar on the territory of the Czech Republic and I am not alone,” Vlcek stressed. “This applies not only to the opposition. I believe the number of those who may find it difficult to raise a hand and vote for the drafted agreements is growing within the coalition, too. I would say the chances that the Chamber of Deputies will not pass the agreements are growing with every day.”
He said, “Nowhere in the world is a radar of this type situated as close, at a distance of 80 kilometres on a straight line, to the capital and its large international airport.” “The efficiency of the US ABM as such can be called in question,” Vlcek noted. He believes the reason for deployment of elements of the ABM in the Czech Republic and in Poland is doubtful, too. “The reasoning about an Iranian or even North Korean threat is absolutely out of place,” he believes.
“Some voices in the coalition cautiously allow that a US radar on our territory must de facto confirm our foreign policy orientation exclusively at the United States,” the Czech speaker said. “But I personally don’t share this opinion,” he added.
