Neoral, 65, is the mayor of Trokavec, near where the Czech part of the system would be built. He is organizing a local non- binding referendum on March 17 to stop the military installation from coming to his sleepy village of 98 people an hour southwest of Prague.
``It's the beginning of a dangerous game,'' Neoral said in an interview. ``It may be the re-start of the Cold War and the arms race.''
As the Czech and Polish governments move toward approving President George W. Bush's request to host the anti-missile system, most of their citizens say in polls that they oppose the U.S. plan. Critics say the system -- a stripped-down version of a plan first proposed by President Ronald Reagan, and dubbed ``Star Wars'' by opponents -- will heighten global tensions. The critics are also wary of giving the U.S. too much influence after having endured decades of Russian domination.
Local anger may weaken already fragile governments in both nations, said political scientist Bohumil Dolezal, formerly of Prague's Charles University. The Czech cabinet doesn't have a parliamentary majority, and Polish coalition partners are threatening to quit because they disagree with economic and social policy.
`The Will of the Majority'
It will be ``hard to stand up against the will of the majority of citizens,'' Dolezal said in an interview.
The U.S. has proposed installing the missile interceptors in northern Poland near Gdansk, the Baltic coast city where the anti- communist Solidarity movement was born. The U.S. also wants to build a radar station between the Czech capital and Plzen, home of Pilsner Urquell beer.
Topolanek, 50, said at a Feb. 19 press conference that his republic and Poland will probably agree to the request. Czech lawmakers yesterday rejected a Communist Party proposal to hold a national referendum on the subject.
Pawel Zalewski, 42, head of Poland's parliamentary foreign- affairs committee and a member of the ruling Law & Justice party, said in a Warsaw interview last month that his nation will probably accept the missile system.
The Key to Security
``Transatlantic cooperation is the key to security in Europe, and we consider that transatlantic cooperation would be strengthened by this deal,'' Zalewski said.
A majority of Poles seem to disagree. According to a Feb. 2-5 nationwide survey of 931 people by the Warsaw-based Center for Public Research, 55 percent are against locating the defense system on Polish territory. The Czechs are even more adamant, with 70 percent opposing deployment of the system, according to a March 4 STEM agency survey.
One source of opposition is resentment that the countries' support for the U.S. in the Middle East hasn't produced tangible rewards. While Poland has sent about 900 soldiers to fight with U.S. forces in Iraq, Washington hasn't responded to requests to end visa restrictions for Polish citizens.
The Czechs have 100 military police in Iraq, and President Vaclav Klaus lobbied to end visa restrictions when he met U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on a March 9 trip to Washington. A Feb. 2-5 survey of 988 adults by pollster RCA Research showed Czechs would reject the radar station even if the U.S. drops the visa requirements.
Iran's Aspirations
The Bush administration says the missile-defense system is designed to protect against attack from nations with nuclear aspirations, such as Iran. It would be operational around 2011.
The U.S. head of missile defense said that European countries should unite behind the shield to counter the ``urgency'' of the threat posed by Iran.
``We see very serious threat emerging from Iran, a very aggressive missile program developing there,'' Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering told reporters in Berlin today. ``We do believe there's an urgency with respect to this threat.''
The Russian government says the U.S. wants to bring missiles closer to the Russian border, violating international agreements, and has threatened to point its own missiles at central Europe.
Russia's security council will amend its military doctrine, adopted in 2000, to reflect ``significant changes to the geopolitical and military political order,'' the council said in a March 5 statement on its Web site. ``Military unions are getting stronger, especially NATO,'' it said.
`Hypothetical Threat'
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said in a March 15 interview in Moscow that the plan poses a ``hypothetical threat'' and Russia will take ``military measures'' to counter it. He didn't specify what those measures be.
After Poland and the Czech Republic joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, three former Soviet republics, followed suit in 2004. On March 6, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to make Ukraine and Georgia eligible for U.S. aid aimed at preparing them to enter NATO.
Some local opponents agree with the Russian assessment that the U.S. system would make central Europe a more dangerous place. ``Poland will be less safe if the shield is stationed here,'' Filip Ilkowski of the Warsaw-based Stop War Initiative said in a telephone interview. ``It will lessen Poland's sovereignty, as we'll become an element of U.S. defense policy.''
Some Trokavec residents say they are more worried about traffic clogging the single-lane gravel road from their village to the site. Others are concerned that residents will be forced out of their homes to make way for military personnel.
While Saturday's referendum won't be binding, Mayor Neoral is encouraging other nearby communities to hold their own votes.
``If it's just Trokavec protesting, then we won't have much of an effect'' he said. ``But if there are 10 or 20 villages, then the government has to take notice. Otherwise, they are fools who shouldn't be in office.''
