Demonstration Against ABM Treaty in Prague

Agence France-Presse reported that about two thousand people, at the least, were protesting on Tuesday in the centre of Prague, against the signature of the treaty on stationing a U.S. missile defence (ABM) radar base on Czech soil. The ABM treaty was signed on July 8th by the United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg.

The protesters who gathered at the Wenceslas Square held banners reading, “We didn’t call you Condoleezza!” and, “No to radar. Yes to peace”. Moreover, some of the protesters urged the Czech prime minister Mirek Topolánek to resign.

However, just a signature of the Czech-American treaty doesn’t necessary mean that the U.S. radar will really appear on Czech territory. The agreement has to be confirmed by both chambers of the Parliament and signed by the republic’s President Václav Klaus.

The Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has repeatedly declared that the government is determined to confirm the ABM treaty as soon as possible, maybe even before the beginning of the Parliament’s summer recess.

The idea to station the ABM defence radar on Czech soil has long divided the country’s politicians in two groups. The governing party ODS (Civic Democratic Party) advocates for the confirmation of the treaty, but it lacks parliamentary majority. Some of the members of the Green Party, which forms part of the Czech governing coalition, are against stationing the radar. The Czech communists will be voting against the ABM defence radar as well. Meanwhile, the leading opposition party, the Czech Social Democratic Party, calls for a referendum on this question. Finally, according to the latest opinion surveys, about 70% of citizens are against stationing the U.S. missile defence radar in their country.