General Henry Obering, who is in charge of the missile defense agency in Washington, said in Berlin last week that the U.S. government was consulting its allies but that it would not bring the shield under the control of NATO, where he said it would face delays. In addition, NATO diplomats said during the weekend that even if Washington were willing to bring the missile defense system into the alliance, it was far from certain that member countries, including Germany, would support the defense system.
Indeed, public opinion in the Czech Republic appears to be hardening against deploying the radar system in Trokavec, about 70 kilometers, or 45 miles, from the capital of Prague. When local residents held a vote, one resident voted to deploy the system and 71 of the 90 eligible voters cast their ballots against it.
The vote was largely symbolic, since it had no legal status but peace activists have begun to organize demonstrations against Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's center-right government. Several hundred peace activists belonging to a group called "No To Bases" marched through the center of Prague on Sunday. Jan Tamas, its spokesman, told the BBC that "if we want to have security, then we need to begin disarming, not creating new weapons."
According to a survey by CVVM, an independent opinion polling agency in Prague, six out of 10 Czechs are opposed to having the radar station in their country. The opposition Social Democrats have called for a referendum while the Greens, who are the junior coalition partners in Topolanek's government, want the base to be integrated in NATO and EU defense plans.
