The Czech government has announced that it wants to host a large US military site for the Pentagon’s much-criticised missile shield system, confirming for the first time that Washington had asked Prague for permission to build a radar site for the national missile defence programme.

Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek referred only to a radar site, a strong indication that the Pentagon is hoping to locate the bigger part of the European project – a large missile interceptor silo that would theoretically fire off rockets to destroy incoming missiles – in neighbouring Poland.

The US has been quietly negotiating with the Czechs and the Poles for four years, while scouting Poland and areas east of the Czech capital, Prague, for suitable missile defence sites. Both centre-right governments in Prague and Warsaw are pro-American.

Lt Gen Vladimir Popovkin, commander of Russia’s space forces, said Moscow would interpret the move as a military threat; “Our analysis shows that the deployment of a radar station in the Czech Republic and a counter-missile position in Poland are an obvious threat to us…”It is very doubtful that elements of the national US missile defence system in eastern Europe were aimed at Iranian missiles, as has been stated.”

via::The Guardian (UK)

see also, “Missile Shield Threatens Russia” (BBC)