Visiting Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said here Tuesday his country will not ask Russia for permission to sit a U.S. radar station on its territory.
"This should never happen again, that we ... become a puppet in the hands of a foreign military power," Topolanek said in a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation.
"We do not want to belong again to the sphere of Russian influence. We do not want to belong to a group of countries which have to ask Russia for permission if they want to insure their own defense," he said.
The United States wants to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of the shield to defend against missiles from "rogue states" such as Iranand the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Russia has expressed strong objection to the U.S. missile defense program, and threatened to take "definite counter measures" against the U.S. plans.
Topolanek said on Monday he is to finalize a deal on sitting an anti-missile radar on Czech soil during his stay in the United States. He is scheduled to meet U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday.
Also on Tuesday, senior officials of the United States and the Czech Republic signed a visa waiver document, paving the way for Czech citizens traveling to the country without visas by September.
The Czech Republic and Poland, both former Warsaw Pact countries, joined the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1999.
Source: Xinhua
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