Final Word from Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Václav Klaus can't be expected to adopt the Green Party's line on global warming or nuclear power, but he came surprisingly close yesterday to the Green position on the U.S. radar. He told the BBC's HARDtalk that he thinks the radar will eventually be placed on Czech soil, but he said that while the discussion continues, he hopes that Nato will make a decision about the entire missile system, organized by Nato, and not just by the U.S., which he said would facilitate the discussion and the decision of the CR. This goes even further than the Greens, who merely want a commitment for the U.S. radar to be fully integrated into Nato. Klaus also indirectly disputed the U.S.'s own stated urgency for putting the radar in place by saying that for him the decision is a way to express transatlantic cooperation, not a response to a clear Iranian or other missile threat. The Czech headlines stated that Klaus supported the radar. He did, but not in its current form and not anytime soon.[Czech Republic United States of American missile-defense shield North Atlantic Treaty Organization]