Trokavec against the radar

A total of 90 residents in Trokavec are eligible to vote on the proposed site selected by US military experts at the base, two kilometres from the village.

   Voting began at 0700 GMT and was to end at 1700 GMT, with results expected to be known by 1830 GMT.
   Trokavec’s mayor Jan Neoral, an independent, who is vehemently opposed to the proposal, said: ‘We want to appeal to the government so that it knows the inhabitants are strongly against’ the sitting of the radar, which is being championed by the country’s liberal prime minister Mirek Topanek.
   According to Neoral, six villagers had cast their ballots in the first 15 minutes of polling.
   ‘Everyone has promised to turn out. One of them is actually in hospital, so there should be 89 in my opinion,’ he said.
   Voters are being asked to react in the affirmative or negative to the following text: ‘I agree that the mayor’s office in Trokavec should undertake the necessary legal proceedings to prevent the construction of the radar station of the United States of America on the military terrain at Brdy.’
   Whatever the outcome, the vote will only have a ‘symbolic value’ as the government has resolutely refused to hold a national referendum on the matter and instead chosen to seek parliamentary approval of Washington’s request.
   But neighbouring villages in the forested, hilly countryside around 60 kilometres from Prague, also intend to hold their own referendums over the next weeks, Neoral said.
   ‘If the other villages rally behind us, the government’s task will be much more difficult,’ he said.
   According to a survey by the CVVM institute in March, around six out of 10 Czechs are opposed to hosting the X-band radar, which would detect a missile attack.