Education minister calls for radar treaty to be ratified only after American elections

Education Minister Ondřej Liška has said that he wants a treaty paving the way for a US radar base on Czech soil to be ratified by the Czech Parliament only after the American presidential elections. Mr Liška said that his party, the Greens, would do their ‘utmost’ to postpone the ratification of the treaty until next year at the earliest. According to the education minister, a new American president may not necessarily support plans drafted by the outgoing Bush administration to build an anti-missile defence system in both the Czech Republic and Poland. Mr Liška’s views are at variance with those held by Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, who would like the bilateral treaty to be approved by the Czech Parliament as early as August.

Author: Rosie Johnston