The talks about the conditions for the stationing of a U.S. radar base in the Czech Republic may end next spring when the parliament will decide on them, Veronika Smigolova-Kuchynova, head of the Foreign Ministry Defense Policy Department said on Sunday.
Smigolova-Kuchynova stressed that the negotiating team had not set any fixed deadline for the completion of the talks with the United States, Czech Television (CT) reported.
The next round of the talks of the radar base will be held in September.
Smigolova-Kuchynova said neither U.S. nor Czech presidential elections next year should set any limit for the negotiations.
"I do not think American presidential elections should be any turning point," she added.
Czech opposition party Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek said the government should continue with the talks, but it should wait for the outcome of the U.S. elections.
"It is possible to conduct the talks, but the new U.S. administration may have a different view," he added.
Smigolova-Kuchynova said the command and control of the radar installations was the key question in the talks.
"This means in which way the Czech side will be informed, on what the Czech side will also decide, where the Czech side will have its experts, in which way the system will be part of NATO architecture," Smigolova-Kuchynova said.
The U.S. unveiled its plan in January to place in Poland 10 long-range interceptors capable of shooting down missiles and a radar system in the Czech Republic.
The American-Czech negotiations on the base were previously planned to continue until the end of the year.
Source: Xinhua
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