U.S. missile plan on Czech agenda in Nov.

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- The Czech Republic Parliament may take up ratification of a Czech-U.S. missile defense treaty next month, a member of parliament said Wednesday.

The agreement to establish a U.S. radar station in the Czech Republic was signed in July by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. The radar station is part of a U.S. defense shield in Europe, which also includes an interceptor missile base in Poland.

"We expect the Czech government to submit to us all the documents necessary for the ratification of the missile defense agreements in November of this year," Miloslav Vlcek told RIA Novosti, the Russian news and information agency.

Vlcek said he anticipated the ratification process would be "hard going," and said the agreement could be "passed by parliament by a margin of one or two votes, if at all."

Russia has opposed the U.S. missile shield, saying the system threatens the country's national security. The United States said the system is needed to protect against missile launches by "rogue" nations in the Middle East.