Vladimir
Putin, the Russian president, claims that the shield - comprising a
radar station in the Czech Republic and a missile silo in Poland -
could be used against Russia and that he has no choice but to retaliate
by aiming missiles at European cities for the first time since the end
of the Cold War.
The US insists that the shield would counter the threat from "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.
But
when Mr Bush arrived last night he was greeted not as a defender of the
former Warsaw Pact nations but by protesters resistant to America's
military expansion.
"US foreign policy has always
been seen as a dream in the Czech Republic," said Jan Tamas, a
spokesman for the No Bases protest group. "But this has changed. The
missile shield was not discussed with the people. We don't want it."
The group blames the project for "new dangers and insecurities".
"It will put 'host' countries on the front line in future US wars," it said in a statement.
The
government of the Czech Republic, one of the pro-American "New Europe"
nations that were formerly under Soviet control, has so far rejected
calls to hold a referendum, which it fears it could lose. But its
wafer-thin parliamentary majority and growing popular opposition to the
plan are putting it under mounting pressure to give way.
Mr
Bush hopes to shore up his ally by building across-the-board political
support for the missile shield. He will meet not only the Czech
Republic's centre-Right prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, but also the
Leftist opposition leader, Jiri Paroubek. Mr Bush will visit Poland
after the three-day G8 summit.
Tension with Russia
could rise still further when Mr Bush then visits Albania, key to
resolving the status of Kosovo and another foreign policy issue on
which Washington and Moscow have serious differences.
Mr Putin is apparently determined to stem the tide of US and Nato power that has swept up to Russia's doorstep.
His recent comments were described yesterday by Nato as "unhelpful and unwelcome".
Mr
Bush will today aim to remind Czechs just why they used to love America
by visiting the headquarters of Radio Free Europe, which was funded by
the US Congress and broadcast its pro-democracy message into then
Czechoslovakia in 1949.
Truemors
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at 23:00 on June 4th, 2007
Bush flies into row over missile shield
By Harry de Quetteville in Prague
Last Updated: 3:01am BST 05/06/2007
President
George W Bush arrived in Prague last night to rally central European
allies shaken by Russia's threat to target them with nuclear missiles.
arrive in Prague yesterday
The visit, before the G8 summit, which begins in Germany tomorrow, follows a worrying escalation in the war of words over US plans to build a missile defence shield in the region.
Vladimir
Putin, the Russian president, claims that the shield - comprising a
radar station in the Czech Republic and a missile silo in Poland -
could be used against Russia and that he has no choice but to retaliate
by aiming missiles at European cities for the first time since the end
of the Cold War.
The US insists that the shield would counter the threat from "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.
But
when Mr Bush arrived last night he was greeted not as a defender of the
former Warsaw Pact nations but by protesters resistant to America's
military expansion.
"US foreign policy has always
been seen as a dream in the Czech Republic," said Jan Tamas, a
spokesman for the No Bases protest group. "But this has changed. The
missile shield was not discussed with the people. We don't want it."
The group blames the project for "new dangers and insecurities".
"It will put 'host' countries on the front line in future US wars," it said in a statement.
The
government of the Czech Republic, one of the pro-American "New Europe"
nations that were formerly under Soviet control, has so far rejected
calls to hold a referendum, which it fears it could lose. But its
wafer-thin parliamentary majority and growing popular opposition to the
plan are putting it under mounting pressure to give way.
Mr
Bush hopes to shore up his ally by building across-the-board political
support for the missile shield. He will meet not only the Czech
Republic's centre-Right prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, but also the
Leftist opposition leader, Jiri Paroubek. Mr Bush will visit Poland
after the three-day G8 summit.
Tension with Russia
could rise still further when Mr Bush then visits Albania, key to
resolving the status of Kosovo and another foreign policy issue on
which Washington and Moscow have serious differences.
Mr Putin is apparently determined to stem the tide of US and Nato power that has swept up to Russia's doorstep.
His recent comments were described yesterday by Nato as "unhelpful and unwelcome".
Mr
Bush will today aim to remind Czechs just why they used to love America
by visiting the headquarters of Radio Free Europe, which was funded by
the US Congress and broadcast its pro-democracy message into then
Czechoslovakia in 1949.