Translated material
Postponed batch
The Czech Republic is ready to postpone the decision on the deployment of American missile defense until the end of the year
Today marks the end of a two-day visit to Moscow by a delegation of the Czech Ministry of Defense led by First Deputy Minister Martin Bartak. The Chief of the Russian General Staff, Army General Yuri Baluevsky, invited the Czechs to discuss “possible security threats and their elimination.” He explained to his colleagues the situation surrounding the deployment of US missile defense elements in Eastern Europe. And he urged them not to make a decision on the deployment of missile defense until the change of the US President . The Czech Republic has so far agreed to wait until the end of the year, when the fate of the Russian-American consultations on missile defense will become clear.Washington intends to build a radar station (radar) in the Czech Republic as a component of the missile defense system. Another such component will be anti-missile defenses in Poland. Moscow believes that this step will undermine the existing security system in Europe and in the world as a whole. And the Americans do not believe that missile defense is needed solely to intercept Iranian missiles. The Chief of the Russian General Staff yesterday bluntly told the Czech guests that the deployment of the radar would be a “big mistake,” because “Russia will simply be obliged to take measures in these conditions for its security.” According to him, “this negative factor will remain an irritant in Russian-Czech relations for many years.” The general also advised Prague not to rush into a decision on missile defense until October-November 2008, that is, before the presidential elections in the United States. According to him, it is possible that the new US President will “overestimate the risks and threats from the south, primarily from Iran.”
Martin Bartak assured Russians yesterday that “at least until the end of this year, a decision will in no case be made.” And he emphasized that this would be done not in a referendum, but within the walls of parliament, with subsequent approval of the verdict by the President of the Czech Republic. Mr. Bartak promised that “all aspects” would be taken into account, including the results of Russian-American negotiations.
The head of the disarmament and conflict resolution department of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Pikaev, in a conversation with Vremya Novostey, confirmed that “if the Czech Republic does not conclude an agreement with the Bush administration before the presidential elections, then the likelihood of an American rollback under the Democrats will be much higher.” The expert recalled that it was Democratic President Bill Clinton, who came to power in 1993, who first abolished the Republican Strategic Defense Initiative program.
According to Alexander Pikaev, Prague’s position is more moderate compared to Warsaw’s approach. Poland is categorically determined to deploy American anti-missile missiles on its territory. Meanwhile, “without a radar in the Czech Republic, the United States does not need anti-missile missiles in Poland; there will be nothing to guide them with,” a Russian expert explained to Vremya Novostey.
Negotiations between Moscow and Washington on missile defense are expected to continue in September. So far, no compromise has been reached. Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that the United States, instead of deploying missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic, jointly use the Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan and the missile launch warning station under construction in Armavir. Yesterday, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov confirmed that trilateral Russian-American-Azerbaijani consultations on the Gabala radar station will be held in Baku in early September.
The problem, however, is that the American side still views Russian proposals not as an alternative to the missile defense system in Eastern Europe, but only as an addition to it. However, yesterday Yuri Baluevsky promised that Russia “will firmly defend” its position both at the September round of negotiations and at the autumn meeting of the heads of defense and foreign policy departments of Russia and the United States in the “two plus two” format.