Czech PM to discuss U.S. missile radar

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The Czech Republic's prime minister said concerns about a U.S. plan to station a radar site on Czech territory will be solved by the year's end.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek is to visit the United States in February, when he is expected to discuss with U.S. President George Bush the issue of the radar base in the Czech republic as part of the missile defense system in Central Europe, Prague Radio said Friday.

Topolanek said he believed the radar issue will be resolved before Bush's term of office ends.

The Czech parliament is expected to vote on the U.S. plan after a NATO summit in April, the radio report said.

The radar site in the Czech Republic and a missile interceptor base in neighboring Poland should form the U.S.-European missile shield against such states as are Iran and North Korea.

Moscow is opposing the U.S. missile shield plan, which it claims is aimed against Russia.