|
Bush speech focuses on missile shield |
|
|
Tuesday, 5 June 2007Missile shield dominates Bush's Prague talks
PRAGUE 05/06/2007 10:48
US President George W. Bush begins talks in the Czech capital Tuesday dominated by the US proposal to deploy its missile defence shield in central Europe in the wake of a fresh attack on the project by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Prague is the quick first stop on Bush's six-nation European visit, which will include the G8 summit in Germany where he is set for a tense meeting with Putin.
The Russian leader increased the tension surrounding Bush's Prague stopover by launching on Monday another verbal assault on the US anti-missile shield plans, which would involve hosting US tracking radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in neighboring Poland.
Washington says the project is designed to knock out any possible attacks from so-called "rogue" states, such as Iran or North Korea.
But Putin has warned that Russia could redeploy missiles aimed at targets in Europe in retaliation.
While White House officials quickly moved to defuse Putin's latest broadside, Bush's keynote Prague speech on promoting democracy around the world is likely to further sour relations between Washington and Moscow by underscoring the need for democratic reforms in Russia and China.
Bush's Tuesday morning meetings with Czech President Vaclav Klaus, right-wing Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, followed by talks with main left-wing opposition leader and former premier, Jiri Paroubek, are all targeted at boosting the chances of the Czech Republic hosting the US radar.
While Klaus and Topolanek have backed the US proposal as a chance for the Czech Republic, a former Soviet satellite state, to demonstrate its NATO credentials, Paroubek has opposed it, demanding a nationwide referendum and guarantees that the US defence shield will be dovetailed into NATO defence plans.
The fact that Bush has set aside time for a special meting with Paroubek "is not usual during official visits," stressed the Tuesday edition of the Czech daily Dnes. Czech media added that Paroubek might be swayed into dropping opposition to the US radar.
Topolanek's fragile centre-right coalition is far from certain of winning a parliamentary vote on siting the radar on Czech soil at the moment and opinion polls suggest two-thirds of the public oppose the controversial project.
Baku Today
5 June 2007 |
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
U.S.' missile defence shield
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LATEST NEWS
FROM AMERICAS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MOST VISITED NEWS (DAILY) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
