Vondra: Czechs do not want US "consolation prize" in defence area

Brussels, June 8 (CTK) - Czech Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra made it clear in Brussels Wednesday that the Czech Republic is not satisfied with the U.S. offer to host an early warning centre within NATO's planned missile defence and said Prague does not seek a mere "consolation prize" from the USA.

Prague is also negotiating about other possible forms of cooperation, Vondra (Civic Democrats, ODS) said during NATO defence ministers' meeting.

The previous U.S. administration of George W.Bush planned to install a missile defence radar base southwest of Prague.

The Barack Obama administration scrapped the plan in 2009 and proposed to establish an early warning centre of missile defence instead.

Prague does not seem enchanted at the project's shape and importance.

Prague's idea of future cooperation is somewhat richer than a mere single or two rooms with certain screens in them, Vondra said Wednesday.

The screens would provide Czechs with a picture but not with a chance to react to the situation appropriately, he added.

The early warning centre thus need not emerge in the Czech Republic unless Washington proposes a way to upgrade the offer.

The negotiations continue. A cooperation deal may finally be struck in areas different from missile defence, Vondra said.

"I don't want to make dramatic statements, but we are also looking for other possibilities than the question of whether it [cooperation] should focus directly on missile defence," Vondra said.

Asked whether the Czech Republic need not take part in NATO's nascent missile defence shield, he said he would not put it this way.

If Czechs were to take part in something, it must be meaningful in terms of the Czech Republic's defence capability. Prague simply does not want it to be a mere consolation prize. It wants it to be of a practical importance for Czechs as well, Vondra said.