The demand for upgrading the Czech military equipment has not been part of the Czech-U.S. negotiations about the stationing of a U.S. radar base on Czech soil, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said on Tuesday.
The Czech Republic has not raised any material demands within the anti-missile defense negotiations, Topolanek said, adding that the government is ready to duly order and pay for necessary military equipment from the United States.
Topolanek made the remarks in reaction to a report by Czech Television on Monday.
The channel reported on Monday that the Czech government has connected the radar talks with demands for U.S. military aid in the form of transport aircraft and upgraded anti-aircraft defense, probably including the Patriot system.
Independent of the radar talks, the Czech Republic has been discussing bilateral cooperation with the United States in air force and anti-aircraft defense modernization, Deputy Defense Minister Martin Bartak told the television.
Topolanek said that scientific and industrial cooperation between the United States and the Czech Republic was discussed during the negotiations.
It is important that the first results of the cooperation have already been taking shape, he said.
"Our position in the negotiations is unchangeable, that is we are interested in scientific and industrial cooperation," National Security Council concluded on its meeting on Tuesday.
The Czech Defense Ministry also said the same day that the demand for the Czech armed forces' equipment upgrading is not part of the Czech-U.S. negotiations.
The United States plans to build a radar base in the Brdy military district, some 90 km southwest of the capital Prague, along with an interceptor missile base in neighboring Poland.
Some 70 percent of Czech citizens are opposed to the project, polls showed.
Source:Xinhua
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