Czechs Hoping Obama Abandons Plan for Radar Base

Prague Monitor: The Non-violence movement and the League of Mayors against the Radar told CTK Thursday they have initiated a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, asking him to take Czechs' opinions into consideration when deciding about plans to extend the U.S. anti-missile shield to Central Europe.

The two groupings' representatives said the letter has been signed by 130 Czech and European personalities, politicians and organisations.

Representatives of the World without Wars have handed it to 20 U.S. embassies.

The letter says some 70 percent of Czech citizens have for a long time disagreed with building the radar base on Czech soil.

It also draws attention to the consequences the implementation of the project, which also includes a base with ten interceptor missiles in Poland, would have for the security of Europe and the whole world.

The radar base is to be built some 90km southwest of Prague. The Czech Republic has signed two treaties on the project with the former president George Bush's administration last year.

Jan Tamas, spokesman for Non-violence, said he welcomes and supports the new direction that the administration of Barack Obama has started to follow.

"If the prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation were one of Obama's priorities, the implementation of this project would be counter-productive," Tamas said.

From Time, Czech politicians not interested in Obama, but Czechs are:

The Obamas' private dinner may, in fact, be a way of avoiding political awkwardness in the Czech capital: They will not be joining President Vaclav Klaus (a skeptic on global warming) at a state dinner; nor will they be sharing delicious Czech lager at an informal pub visit with Topolanek, whose government collapsed a day before his comment about Obama's stimulus inferno. Czech sources insist that the Americans had turned down those two invitations before the Prime Minister's remark. (See pictures of the Obamas in Europe)

There's unlikely to be much awkwardness, however, when Obama encounters ordinary Czechs, among whom there is tremendous excitement over his visit. Thousands are expected to gather on Sunday when the President will speak at historic Hradcansky square next to the majestic Prague Castle, a site offering splendid views of the red-roofed, river-laced city. He is expected to talk about reducing the nuclear weapons proliferation. "I am absolutely thrilled," says Jiri Hlupy, 76, a set designer in the local movie industry. He hopes that Obama's presence will "wake up" squabbling Czech politicians.

NATO Agrees To Boost Troops for Afghan Election

AFP: STRASBOURG (AFP) - NATO leaders pledged thousands more troops for their Afghan mission Saturday and named the organisation's next leader, as violent anti-war demonstrations raged outside the summit.

Britain, Spain and Italy said they would send hundreds of extra troops each to secure Afghanistan's key August presidential election, adding up to what the White House said was a total of "up to 5,000" personnel.

The deal was a victory for new US President Barack Obama, who came to his first NATO summit to promote his new Afghan strategy and warn his allies that Europe would have to shoulder more of the war-fighting burden.

Hardline protesters set fire to the ground floor of a hotel near the summit
"I am pleased that our NATO allies pledged their strong and unanimous support for our new strategy," Obama told reporters.

Although France and Germany were not among the countries who made major new troop commitments, Obama praised President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel as the joint hosts of the 60th anniversary summit.

"This summit and this alliance have delivered," outgoing NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters at the end of the gathering in Strasbourg.

For more on NATO, check out the website here.
NATO protesters. They're largely protesting a U.S. radar installation proposed in the Czech Republic (get background on this project here).

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