Politicians reject possibility of permanent Russian troops on Czech territory

Czech politicians have rejected the possibility of permanent Russian military presence at the planned U.S. radar base in the Czech Republic. After meeting with the U.S. President George W. Bush in Sochi on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that permanent Russian military presence at U.S. bases could disperse Russia’s concerns. Czech European Affairs Minister Alexander Vondra noted that the Czech Republic would only accept an agreement on Russian inspections to the planned installation; any such agreement will also have to entail reciprocal Czech inspections to Russia. For his part, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said that the proposal was a “virtual political game we don’t want to get involved in”, and the idea of Russian military personnel permanently stationed in the Czech Republic was also rejected by Interior Minister Ivan Langer.