The Czech government approved the agreement on strategic cooperation with the United States in anti-missile defense, referred to as a framework agreement, the Czech news agency CTK said on Wednesday.
The agreement, related to the possible stationing of a U.S. radar base on Czech soil, provides for Czech scientific and industrial entities participating in the further development of the anti-missile shield project, CTK said.
"It is definitely one of the successes of the anti-defense negotiators. It should be signed in the weeks ahead," First Deputy Defense Minister Martin Bartak said.
The negotiations on the text of the framework agreement were completed on July 9.
The main treaty on the radar base was signed by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg on July 8. The SOFA treaty on the status of U.S. soldiers at the radar base was signed in London in September.
The government wants to submit the main treaty and SOFA agreement to Czech lawmakers for ratification by the year end. Support in parliament is not sure.
Russia is strongly opposed to the deployment of the system, saying it poses a threat to its national security. Czech opposition parties and some 70 percent of the country's citizens also oppose the project.
Source: Xinhua
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