The date of signing both Czech-U.S. treaties on possible stationing of a U.S. radar base on Czech soil has not been determined yet, the Czech news agency CTK reported on Sunday.
It is not certain when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would be able to arrive in the Czech Republic to sign the treaties, CTK said.
Apart from the main radar treaty, the Czech Republic and the United States must yet complete the negotiations on the SOFA treaty on the legal framework of American soldiers' stay at the planned base on Czech soil.
Asked whether the treaties would be signed in the first decade of June as Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek mentioned, John Rood, main U.S. negotiator on the base, told the Czech daily Pravo that there is no exact date.
Rood, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, said that other officials may be assigned to sign the treaties with regard to the busy working program of both ministers, Rice and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.
In the interview for Pravo, Rood rejected the speculations that the postponement of Rice's visit was caused by other, but time reasons.
Rice was originally to arrive in Prague to sign the main treaty in early May, but she could only stay in the Czech Republic for half a day. Therefore, the two countries have agreed to sign both documents together.
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said on Monday that the Czech republic and the U.S. will sign both treaties in early June.
The United States plans to build a radar base in the Brdy military district, some 90 kilometers 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.
Source:Xinhua
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