The Czech Republic will be responsible for damage arising from the conduct of the planned U.S. radar on Czech soil, the Czech news agency CTK said on Thursday.
According to the main treaty on the radar, which has already been completed, in other cases, responsibility for the radar operation will rest with the Americans, CTK added.
Theoretically, the Czechs might be responsible for a mistake made by an air traffic ground controller who will, for instance, mistakenly navigate a plane to the no-fly zone and the plane's apparatuses break down over the radar.
Claims for and compensation of the damage are also to be treated by the SOFA bilateral treaty that defines the conditions of the U.S. soldiers' stay in the Czech Republic. The Defense Ministry is still negotiating about SOFA with the United States.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to arrive in Prague to sign the treaty in June or July, CTK said.
The two treaties need to be ratified by Czech parliament. The parliament will take three votes on the base, two on each of the two treaties and one separate on the stay of U.S. soldiers on Czech soil, the ministry said.
The U.S. Congress House of Representatives recommended on Thursday that spending be cut on the anti-missile defense, saying it is necessary to wait for approval of the bases by the Czech Republic and Poland.
If the United States implemented its plans, the European system, comprising the radar base and ten defense missiles in Poland, could start functioning in about five years.
The United States plans to build a radar base at the Brdy military district, some 90 km southwest of Czech capital Prague, along with an interceptor missile base in Poland, but Warsaw has yet to agree to the move.
Russia is strongly opposed to the deployment of the system, saying the plan poses threat to its strategic interests. Some 70 percent of Czech citizens also oppose the project.
Source:Xinhua
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