Vondra: ČR not heard of in Munich, out of attention

Munich, Feb 7 (CTK) - The Czech Republic has not been heard of much at the 46th Munich security conference compared with the previous years, and this was not only due to the absence of a Czech minister from the event, senator Alexandr Vondra, former European affairs minister, told CTK Sunday.

Vondra said this was a sign of the Czech Republic's being no longer in the centre of attention in terms of security policy which it enjoyed over the past 20 years.

Jan Hamacek (Social Democrats, CSSD), chairman of the Chamber of Deputies foreign committee, did not share this opinion.

He said the Czech Republic has been fully integrated into the western structures and it is not situated in a problematic part of Europe.

Both Vondra and Hamacek were guests to the Munich conference that ends today.

Vondra said lower attention is paid not only to Prague, but to the whole of central and east Europe.

"It is natural that thanks to the (U.S.) system of anti-missile protection we and the Poles remained in the centre of attention for a few years longer," Vondra said.

He said the scrapping of the U.S. plans to build a radar base on Czech soil within the anti-missile shield in Europe has also been responsible for the current situation.

Another reason is, Vondra said, the departure from the debate on NATO enlargegent in which the Czech Republic played an important role in the 1990s, to the themes of the alliance's internal consolidation, the Afghan mission and disarmament.

"This is a clear message telling us that we will no more get anything for free, that we will have to secure everything with our own increased energy or initiative," Vondra said.

He said this also applies to the new defence strategy U.S. President Barack Obama is preparing.

Vondra said though Washington indicated last year it is still counting with the Czech Republic, much will now depend on how strongly particular allied states will seek participation in the project.

"This is how Czechs should also see it. They will either take interest in it and then they will have an opportunity to influence the system and will profit from it somehow, or they will be waiting for whether someone addresses them, and it may happen that no one will address them," Vondra said.

He said this is also true of the Romanian government's recent announcement that it had agreed with the United States on the stationing of an element of the new anti-missile system on Romanian soil.

The major topic of this year's Munich conference was the nuclear programme of Iran on which the West presses to allow international control of its activities in the field.

Both Vondra and Hamacek said the arrival of Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Motaki in Munich that was not announced beforehand did not contribute at all to progress in dealing with the issue.

Vondra said a solution to the Iran issue will take long while Hamacek is rather sceptical about it.

He said it will depend on the international community how it reacts to Tehran's evasive tactic and whether it will find means to motivate Iran to change its stand.

The future of NATO, one of the major points on the agenda of the conference, will minimally partially depend on the result of the Afghan war, both Vondra and Hamáček said.

"NATO must somehow prevent its defeat in Afghanistan," Vondra said.

He said the importance and position of the Czech Republic in the Alliance will also be assessed in the near future according to the extent of its involvement in the conflict.

Hamacek, whose party is against raising the number of Czech soldiers in Afghanistan, said it is a mistake to reduce the discussion on the issue only to the numbers of deployed reinforcements.

He said the soldiers' tasks in Afghanistan are also important and added that the training of Afghan policemen is the most needed at present.