Czechs want missile shield talks with NATO, Germany

...

The Czech Republic intends to consult both Germany and NATO on plans for a U.S. missile shield, a project that has infuriated Russia, Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra said on Tuesday. The United States wants to set up a radar system in the Czech Republic and a missile battery in Poland as part of a shield that would counter missiles fired by what Washington calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

"I informed the minister that we want to discuss the issue with Germany and within the NATO alliance," Vondra said after meeting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. "I expect that this will go beyond what the United States has done so far," he told reporters.

Moscow sees the system as an encroachment on its former sphere of influence and an attempt to shift the post-Cold War balance of power. Germany has criticised the project's planners for failing to discuss it sufficiently with Russia.

Vondra reiterated the Czech position that the anti-missile shield was in no way aimed at Russia.

"The goal is protection against other threats coming from the Middle East," he said. The Czech deputy prime minister was clearly referring to Iran, which the United States and European Union fear is developing nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian atomic energy programme -- a charge Tehran denies.

KIEV WANTS CONSULTATION

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich was quoted by a German newspaper as saying the shield should have been discussed with Kiev as well as Moscow.

"Only once there has been a comprehensive European debate, a dialogue between western and eastern Europe can such a decision be made," he told German business daily Handelsblatt.

"Europe must not be split again like it was before the Iraq war," Yanukovich said in the paper's Tuesday edition.

Steinmeier said that in addition to his talks with Vondra he had been able to discuss the issue last week with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

"The discussion should, as much as possible, take place without the typical anti-American or anti-Russia reflexes in the public," he said, adding that the Americans had made it clear that they would continue discussing the issue with Russia.

((Editing by Peter Millership; Berlin newsroom, +49 30 2888 5085))

Keywords: CZECH MISSILE/GERMANY

[BERLIN/Reuters/Finance.cz]