Obama cancels plans for anti-missile radar in Czech Republic

MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - The U.S. president has told the Czech premier that Washington is abandoning the Bush administration's plans for an anti-missile radar in the country, Russia's Vesti TV channel reported on Thursday, citing Czech media.

Czech officials confirmed the telephone conversation between Barack Obama and Jan Fischer late last night, the reports said. Prague is expected to issue a statement on the matter after receiving a formal document from Washington later on Thursday.

The George Bush administration sought to deploy a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of an anti-missile system, along with an interceptor missile base in Poland, as protection from potential strikes from Iran. Russia has opposed to the plans viewing them as a threat to the strategic balance of forces in Europe.

Also on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported citing sources familiar with the issue that Washington will shelve the nuclear missile defense plans for Europe.

The paper said the United States will base its decision on an assessment that Iran's long-range missile program has not progressed as rapidly as previously estimated, reducing the threat to the U.S. and Europe's major cities.

Czech premier confirms U.S. has dropped anti-missile plans

WARSAW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer confirmed on Thursday that Washington has decided to scrap its missile defense plans for the Czech Republic and Poland, which have been fiercely opposed by Russia.

"Barack Obama telephoned me at 00:21 local time. Poland has also been informed of the decision," Fischer told a news briefing in Prague.

The premier said a U.S. delegation is due to arrive in Prague within hours to discuss details of the decision.

A U.S. delegation led by Ellen Tauscher, under secretary of state for arms control and international security, finished talks in Warsaw earlier on Thursday. No official comments have followed.

Media in the U.S., Poland and the Czech Republic have cited high-ranking sources as saying the Obama administration will officially soon announce its decision to abandon plans for a radar in the Czech Republic and a missile base in Poland.

The Wall Street Journal cited sources close to the issue as saying the U.S. decision to scrap the plans are based on an assessment that Iran's long-range missile program has not progressed as rapidly as previously estimated, reducing the threat to the U.S. and Europe's major cities.

• Iran |
• MissileDefense |
• nuclear

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