A senior U.S. official reaffirmed today that the United States wants the Czech Republic to have a substantive part in the Obama administration's revised plan for European missile defense (see GSN, Nov. 13).
U.S. Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher, met with top diplomats in Prague to discuss how the Czech Republic could take part in the new missile shield program, the Associated Press reported.
"We are talking to the government about a number of good opportunities," Tauscher said after she met with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout and his deputy, Tomas Pojar.
The White House in September threw out a Bush administration missile defense plan that would have fielded a large radar facility stationed in the Czech Republic and placed 10 long-range missile interceptors fielded in Poland. The new plan proposes to deploy sea- and land-based versions of the Standard Missile 3 in and around Europe to counter what Washington sees as a growing Iranian short- and medium-range missile threat.
"This is obviously a very big issue for us because of our deep relationships with the Czech Republic, and our hope [is] that we can find a significant role for the Czech Republic," Tauscher said.
Technical experts from the United States are expected to travel to the Czech Republic in December to go over additional details, she said (Associated Press/New York Times, Nov. 16).
Tauscher did not offer any specific details about the Czech role in the new plan, the Czech News Agency reported.
Earlier this month, U.S. Assistant Defense Secretary Alexander Vershbow said that a Czech technical official should travel to the United States to meet with officials from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. That trip, has yet to occur, Pojar said (Czech News Agency/Ceske Noviny, Nov. 16).