Czech talks on Europe missile shield open

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. and Czech officials began a third round of talks on deploying a radar base on Czech territory as part of a missile defense system in Europe.

Jan Pejsek, spokesman for the Czech military, told reporters the delegations were led by Ivan Dvorzsak, head of a strategic defense department in the Foreign Ministry, and Jackson MacDonald, a special representative of the U.S. Department of State, the Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.

The U.S. radar base would be built in the Brdy mountains region 55 miles southwest of Prague. An interceptor missile base would be stationed in Poland, making up the U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe to protect against such countries as Iran and North Korea.

Moscow is opposing the U.S. idea to build the missile shield in central Europe and argues it would pose a threat to Russia.

Once Washington and Prague have reached an agreement on the missile shield, the Czech parliament is to give final approval on the project, probably early next year.