The Czech-U.S. SOFA treaty (Status of Forces Agreement) that specifies conditions for the stay of U.S. troops at the planned radar base on Czech soil might be completed next week, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said on Sunday.
The SOFA treaty had been almost completely negotiated so it might be ready at the meeting of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and Defense Minister Vlasta Parkanova that will take place on Thursday, August 28, Schwarzenberg said indicated in the QuestionsVaclav Moravec TV debate.
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek will visit the Defense Ministry next week, Schwarzenberg added.
The United States plans to build a radar base in the Czech Republic, along with an interceptor missile base in Poland, as part of its missile defense shield.
U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice and her Czech counterpart Schwarzenberg signed the main treaty on the base in early July.
Russia strongly opposes the deployment of the missile defense system, saying the plan poses a threat to its national security. Czech opposition parties and some 70 percent of Czech citizens also oppose the project.
The radar treaties are yet to be ratified by the Czech parliament. It is not clear whether the Czech government will muster enough votes for the treaty's ratification in parliament.
SOFA was originally to be competed this autumn. Schwarzenberg rejected the opinion that the treaty's completion had been accelerated by the Russian-Georgian conflict.
The Czech Republic had signed the main bilateral treaty on the radar base before the conflict in the Caucasus erupted, he added.
Georgia launched attacks against South Ossetia on Aug. 7 in an attempt to regain control of the breakaway region bordering Russia. In retaliation, Moscow sent in troops that drove Georgian forces out of the region and took over parts of Georgian territory.
South Ossetia, formerly an autonomous region within Georgia, declared independence from the former Soviet republic in the early1990s. However, its independence has not been internationally recognized.
Source:Xinhua
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