EUobserver.com

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - After months of negotiations, the Czech Republic has agreed to host a US radar on its soil, something that should eventually become an integral part of a future anti-missile defence umbrella under NATO.

"The United States and the Czech Republic are pleased to announce the completion of negotiations on a missile defence agreement," says a joint statement by the two countries, issued on the fringes of the NATO summit in Bucharest (3 April).

It continues by saying: "This agreement is an important step in our efforts to protect our nations and our NATO allies from the growing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction."

The legally-binding document is to be signed within the first ten days of May.

"The need for missile defence in Europe is real and in my opinion it is urgent," US president George W. Bush said in his opening speech at the NATO summit (2 April).

Washington claims that an anti-missile shield in Central Europe is vital to defend the two continents, America and Europe, from rogue states such as Iran and North Korea.

Aside from a radar base in the Czech Republic, the Bush administration also aims at placing ten interceptor missiles on Polish territory, although US-Polish talks are lagging behind due to fresh demands tabled by Warsaw.

Washington has said, however, that the radar will be useful even without the interceptors in Poland, describing it as "a tremendous capability".

NATO's approval
The controversial project has also won the approval of the entire 26-nation NATO, as "the radar will be linked to other US missile defence facilities in Europe and the US".

According to NATO's chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Alliance was tasked to "develop options for a comprehensive missile defence architecture to extend coverage to all ally territory and population not otherwise covered by the US system" for review at the 2009 summit.

It comes in response to the fact that while many western and central European countries would benefit from the US system, countries such as Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania would be exposed to a possible threat of missile attack.

Under an idea floated in NATO circles, an Alliance-designed short and medium range missile defence system could be bolted onto the American one designed for protection from long range attacks.

Russia's response
Currently, all eyes are focused on how Russia will respond to the US-Czech deal as well as NATO's fresh call for cooperation in the area of anti-missile defences.

Moscow considers US military expansion to Central Europe to be a direct threat to its own security and in response has frozen its commitments under the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CEF) treaty, which sets limits on the number of conventional weapons and military deployments across Europe.

In addition, outgoing President Vladimir Putin offered Washington the use of a Russia-operated radar base in Azerbaijan as an alternative to any American site in Central Europe.

"We are inviting Russia to join us in this cooperative effort against emerging threats that could effect us all," George W. Bush said in Bucharest, underlining that the missile defence capabilities are not designed to defend against Russia.

He added: "We believe these sites could be included as part of a wider threat monitoring system that could lead to an unprecedented level of strategic cooperation between Russia and the NATO alliance."

The two leaders, Mr Bush and Mr Putin, are to meet twice this week in efforts to break the ice over the controversial issue.

Prague to host US radar for tracking ballistic missiles