The subsidies, in support of the municipalities in Brdy area of the planned U.S. radar base on Czech soil from the Czech government, would not thwart people's negative stance on the issue, local mayors said on Sunday.
The state subsidies were just the government's effort "to bribe the municipalities," the mayors said.
They stressed they had not changed their view on the radar in reaction to the money.
The government officially promised to earmark subsidies for 22 Brdy municipalities to help them build infrastructure almost a year ago, but the mayors are still "at the beginning of the complicated path to the subsidies," according to the mayors.
The mayors say they do not know about any state subsidies that the Brdy towns and villages have already received.
However, deputy finance minister Ivan Fuksa, head of the commission for the development of the Brdy region, said over 1.38 million crowns (84,000 U.S. dollars) had already been allotted to the Brdy municipalities in four cases for the project documentation.
The ministry could release higher sums more quickly, but it is waiting until the municipalities submit their projects and invoices, Fuksa 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.
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.
It is not clear whether the Czech government will muster enough votes for the treaty's ratification in the parliament.
Source:Xinhua
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