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.

Obama Speaks in Prague April 5

UPDATE 4-5: WATCH THE SPEECH HERE

UPDATE 4-4: See the Obamas arrival video here

Prague Castle
The Obamas will arrive at Prague Castle and Obama will meet with President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek.

The Prague Post: U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to arrive in Prague around 5 p.m. Saturday, April 4. His public speech is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 5 at Hradčanske náměstí. Gates to the event open at 7 a.m. and the U.S. Embassy is urging early arrival.
Later in the day, Obama will attend an informal meeting with leaders from the European Union's 27 member states departing from Prague about 24 hours after arriving at 5 p.m. Sunday. Prague City Hall has a toll-free information line detailing public transport changes during the Obama visit.

From the 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.

Preparations:

Czech Republic Leader Slams Obama Administration

How odd is this? It appears something else is going on in the mind of prime minister Mirek Topolanek:

NYT: BRUSSELS — Transatlantic tension over the handling of the global economic crisis intensified Wednesday when the prime minister of the Czech Republic, which holds the European Union presidency, described the President Obama’s stimulus measures as the “way to hell.”

Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek argued that the Obama administration’s fiscal package and financial bailout “will undermine the stability of the global financial market.”

Mr. Topolanek’s comments, only a day after he offered his government’s resignation following a no confidence vote, took European officials by surprise.

The rotating European Union presidency lasts for six months and the country that holds it is supposed to speak on behalf of the entire 27-nation bloc.

The statement came just a week before a meeting in London of the Group of 20 which will bring together the leaders of the 19 leading industrial and developing nations and the European Union to forge an international consensus on the economic crisis. His comments also underlined potential ideological strains between Washington and Europe as Mr. Obama prepares to travel to Prague in less than two weeks for a summit meeting intended to bolster trans-Atlantic relations and show that the United States and Europe are united over economic policy.

Topolanek eager to show he's relevant or his country is doing well and he can't fathom a stimulus?

One European Union official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the comments reflected that, unlike other Eastern European countries like Hungary, the Czech economy has proved relatively resilient.

“He is sitting in the Czech Republic,” the official said “where growth is holding up relatively well and a fiscal stimulus makes no sense.”

“He has never been in favor of a big fiscal stimulus — though he did not argue against it at the E.U. summit.”

Analysts in Prague said that Mr. Topolanek was eager to show Europe that he was still politically relevant despite the collapse of the government. They noted that his railing against interventionism was consistent with the liberal economic ideology of his center-right Civic Democratic party. Read the whole thing.