UPDATE 1-Russian missile "blackmail" won't work, Czechs say

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By Matt Reynolds

The Czech Republic said on Tuesday it would not be intimidated by Russia over plans to site parts of a U.S. missile defence system on its territory and said attempts at "blackmail" by Moscow would backfire.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said threats by Russian officials over the plans, which would involve placing a radar system on Czech land and a missile battery in Poland, would only make Czechs more determined to defend themselves.

"The Czechs will now think the shield is even more necessary," Schwarzenberg told Reuters on the sidelines of a business conference in Warsaw.

"We have quite an experience with Russians. You have to make clear to them you won't succumb to blackmail. Once you give in to blackmail, there's no going back. We have to be strong."

Russia's strategic forces commander, General Nikolai Solovtsov, said on Monday that Russia would be capable of firing missiles at the Czech Republic and Poland if the ex-communist states agreed to host the U.S. defence system.

He said any decision to fire would have to be made by the Kremlin, but that militarily it was possible to hit targets in both countries.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tried to calm the waters, saying Russia wanted to avoid an arms race and that it hoped to work in a team with the West.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek summoned Russia's ambassador in Prague for "consultations" to take place later this week, a spokesman for Topolanek said.

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski told Polish radio that comments by Solovtsov were "attempts to scare".

NATO APPROVAL?

The United States says the system is designed to counter missiles fired by what Washington calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

But Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin struck out at the United States this month, accusing Washington of trying to force its will on the world.

Lavrov said: "Russia will react to emerging threats to its national security in a carefully weighed manner and appropriately, but without allowing anyone to entangle her in a new wave of confrontation or a new arms race."

"We are prepared to play in a team, prepared to play by the rules, but of course not by rules which have been forced on us," he said at a Moscow university.

Both the Polish and the Czech prime ministers have said their countries would likely accept the installations, which would tie their interests to Washington, even though the plan has little public support among either Czechs or Poles.

Schwarzenberg, the Czech foreign minister, said he would seek a approval from NATO on installing part of the system. A green party in the Czech Republic's ruling coalition says it would only back the plan if NATO agreed.

Formal NATO approval could be difficult. The alliance is divided over a separate missile defence scheme that some members think would be too costly, unreliable and harmful to relations with partners such as Russia and China.

Germany has criticised the United States for failing to inform Russia about details of the plan before approaching Poland and the Czech Republic.

But NATO spokesman James Appathurai said Russia had been briefed extensively by the United States. "They have been fully transparent. There should be no surprises in Moscow about any of this," he said. (Additional reporting by James Kilner in Moscow, Paul Taylor in Brussels and Gabriela Baczynska in Warsaw) ((Editing by Elizabeth Piper; Warsaw newsroom +48 22 653 9706))

Keywords: POLAND CZECH/MISSILES

[WARSAW/Reuters/Finance.cz]