PRAGUE, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- 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.