Archive: Foreign policy | Diplomacy Diplomacy
Bush in Prague: The Cold War is over, Russia is not our enemy
The sounds of the American anthem welcomed US President George W. Bush to
Prague Castle on Tuesday for talks with his Czech counterpart, Vaclav
Klaus, as well as with Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. The talks
were the first stop of Mr Bush's European visit, which includes, first and
foremost, attending the G8 Summit in Germany, where Mr Bush will head on
Tuesday evening. Mr Bush's stop-off in Prague, though brief, was not
unimportant: he was in the Czech capital to discuss a number of issues,
among them a US request to station part of its missile defense system in
the Czech Republic. Also discussed were other issues including US visa
policy. More
Prague set for arrival of US President George W. Bush
Tourists who chose this Monday and Tuesday for quick stopovers in Prague
picked the worst possible time if they were hoping to see the area of
Prague Castle. To put it bluntly, they won't. The Castle and more
immediate surroundings have been closed off as part of intense security in
place ahead of the arrival of US President George W. Bush. In terms of
security, Prague has rarely seen anything like it (the closest perhaps
being a NATO Summit in 2002).
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US ambassador Richard Graber: "History will be the judge of whether or not American policy is right"
Early in June US President George W. Bush will visit the Czech Republic.
The American Head of State will be meeting with his Czech counterpart
Vaclav Klaus and other senior politicians. Washington's visa policy and
its plans to build a radar station on Czech soil are topics expected to be
discussed the most. To get the US position on both issues ahead of Mr
Bush's visit, our colleague Daniel Raus from Czech Radio 6 met with the US
Ambassador to Prague Richard Graber.
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Security services gearing up for Bush visit
This time two weeks US President George Bush will be here in Prague to
attend a conference on democracy and security. The American leader will
also discuss the planned building of a US radar base in central Bohemia
with senior Czech politicians, during a visit that is expected to last a
day and a half. A number of anti-Bush protests have already been
announced, and we can expect the kind of security operation rarely seen in
the Czech capital.
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Czech-Austrian relations once again under strain over Temelin
The dispute surrounding the Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia is
very much back on the agenda. Last week Austrian anti-nuclear demonstrators
blockaded a number of border crossings, the latest in a series of protests.
They say they will close down the entire border if the Austrian government
fails to file an international lawsuit against the Czech Republic over
Temelin. This week Vienna sent a diplomatic note to Prague, protesting at
what Austria claims is the Czechs' failure to comply with the 2000 Melk
Agreement on safety at Temelin. So why is Austria still so bothered by the
plant? A question we put to Radko Pavlovec, Upper Austria's Commissioner
for Nuclear Issues.
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Czech diplomat, guards, come under fire in Afghanistan
Just weeks after the opening of a Czech Embassy in the Afghan capital
Kabul, Czech staff have been involved in a serious violent incident. When
a car carrying the country's most senior diplomat in Kabul came under
fire, Czech personnel had no option but to retaliate. The dramatic
incident left two Czechs injured and three rebels dead.
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Business contracts and US missile defence shield dominate agenda of President Klaus's Russian trip
Czech President Vaclav Klaus ended a four-day trip to the Russian
Federation on Sunday - the first ever official visit to Russia by a Czech
head of state. Accompanied by an unusually large delegation of
businessmen, Mr Klaus's chief aim was, he said, to boost bilateral
relations, with special emphasis on economy. However, the meeting between
President Klaus and Russian President Vladmir Putin was to a large extent
dominated by the US project to install a tracking radar in the Czech
Republic.
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RFE commentator: missile defence will not cloud Klaus Russia visit
President Vaclav Klaus has embarked on his first state visit to Russia
since becoming president. It's a historic visit but one that comes at a
time of rising tensions between Prague and Moscow over American plans to
build a radar station on Czech soil as part of its missile defence system.
Missile defence will undoubtedly dominate talks between President Klaus and
his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but will it overshadow them? We
asked Radio Free Europe commentator Jefim Fistejn.
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US missile defence chief in Prague to drum up support for radar base
The head of the U.S. Missile Defence Agency Lieutenant General Henry
Obering paid a visit to Prague on Monday to drum up support for a plan to
place an American radar station on Czech territory. The U.S. has already
made a formal request to the Czechs for them to host the facility as part
of its missile defence shield. Now the tortuous process of discussing
technical details and winning crucial political approval is underway.
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Bush to visit Prague in effort to win over Czechs on missile defence
The United States is rolling out the big guns as it tries to persuade those
opposed to placing part of its missile defence system in Europe. On Monday
the head of the Missile Defence Agency is due to meet Czech officials and
MPs in Prague, while the Czech government has confirmed that US President
George W. Bush will also visit the country in June. So will these
high-profile visits allay Czech fears over missile defence?
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