PRAGUE, Czech Republic, April 24 (UPI) -- The number of Czechs opposing the deployment of a U.S. radar base on Czech territory is on the rise, a public poll indicated Tuesday.
Prague Radio said 68 percent of Czech respondents opposed the idea of stationing the radar base as part of a U.S. anti-missile defense center in Europe. The number was 7 percent higher than in a February poll.
Seventy-seven percent of Czechs accept the idea of holding a public referendum of the issue, the radio said.
The United States also plans to deploy a missile base in neighboring Poland.
U.S. President George Bush is expected to visit Prague in June to discuss the system with Czech leaders, the report said.
Washington officials have been trying to persuade the governments in Prague and Warsaw of the need to have such a defense system in central Europe.
U.S.-Czech talks on the radar base are expected to be completed by year's end and a government decision would still have to be approved by parliament.
