The Czech government said on Friday it wanted to sign an
agreement with the United States that would allow Czech companies
to participate in the building of the U.S. missile defense
shield.
A preparatory bilateral meeting on the agreement will take place
next Friday, the Foreign Ministry said.
A seminar on the issue will be organized by the Czech Foreign
ministry and the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) next
Wednesday and Thursday, Czech news agency CTK reported.
"The aim of the seminar is to open possibilities for cooperation
between Czech and U.S. companies in the sphere of research,
development and industrial production of missile defense systems,"
the ministry was quoted as saying.
The companies and research institutions will establish contact
at the seminar, which is to be attended by Czech Foreign Minister
Karel Schwarzenberg and MDA Director Henry Obering as well as
representatives of arms producers participating in the project,
such as Raython, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
At present, the United States is cooperating with Japan, Italy,
Australia, Britain and Denmark on the missile defense shield.
The United States plans to build interceptor missiles in Poland
and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of its missile
defense shield.
Its negotiations with the Czech Republic are still underway. A
recent opinion poll showed 70 percent of the Czechs rejected the
planned U.S. radar base, the highest rate of opposition
recorded.
Russia strongly opposes the U.S. missile defense program in
Poland and the Czech Republic.
(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2008)
