Czechs relieved of radar base and democracy, too
Published: 19 September, 2009, 07:34
Czech Republic, Prague: Members and sympathizers of Humanist Movement protest against the planed US anti-missile radar station nearby the Prague Castle. (AFP Photo / Attila Kisbenedek)
(13.1Mb) embed videoTAGS: Conflict, NATO, Protest, Politics, Europe, USA
About 60 km south of Prague, the people in Trokavec say they can now rest easy after winning a 2 year fight against the planned US anti-missile defence system.
Feelings of relief and happiness have settled on this small Czech village in the Brdy mountains following the announcement by Barack Obama on missile defence, which was met with mixed reactions across Europe, where some politicians voiced anger and others relief that the U.S. missile defence was shelved.
Its radar base was going to be located just 2 kilometers from Trokavec, something villagers fiercely opposed.
Local residents told RT they are really happy and welcome the U.S. decision with open arms now that the radar will not be there, because “world problems shouldn’t be solved by placing radars” – near their homes and because, for them, “the radar would not bring anything positive”.
And they’re not alone in their opinion – around 70 other Czechs were against hosting the missile shield in their country.
The base was going to be built in a vast expanse of forest, which is actually a military zone, but nearby residents feared it was a threat to their health and safety and perhaps could make the Czech Republic vulnerable to attack from outside states. Unlike in neighbouring Poland, the Czech Republic never felt it needed the anti-missile defense system to boost their national security and, instead, felt they had all the protection they needed from being a member of NATO.
Despite strong objections, the Czech government chose not to hold a national referendum on the issue. So local villages took the matter into their own hands, to ensure their voices were heard.
“I created the League of Mayors which had 57 members from surrounding villages. We took our fight all over Europe to convince the governments and parliaments that we are totally against the AMD system, despite what our own leadership was saying,” says Jan Neoral, the mayor of Trokavec.
And while their cause has now been won, some still feel disappointed in the way their own government handled the issue.
Jan Tamas, from the “Non-Violence” movement, says “we are a little bit disappointed that it had to be the U.S. government that brought that project to an end and that it was not the Czech government that has been for years ignoring the will of the majority of Czechs.”
“This is really a sad day for democracy in our country, that our future had to be decided outside of our country,” Tamas declares.
But overall there’s been a smooth acceptance, both politically and socially, to the news that the radar base is no more.
So for the residents of Trokavec, its time to breath a sigh of relief and get back to more pressing matters at hand.
19.09.2009, 02:39
ABM decision is good but what about the trade issues?The whole army of U.S. Republican Party politicians has ganged up on the Obama administration’s decision to give up land-based anti-missile systems in Europe, says RT contributor Wayne Madsen. |
19.09.2009, 12:24
14 comments
NATO, US & Russia could join forces on missile defenseUS Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says the Pentagon is interested in using Russian radar for its missile defense program. The news comes after the US dropped plans to build missile defense bases in Eastern Europe. |
Indeed, they can relax now! My respect goes for all those ordinary people, who have peace in their hearts and bravely figth those last 2 years agains crazy policy of their govenment! I always said: ordinary people from country side are born with clear human instict what is right and what is wrong!Its verry hard to trick them or sell them a "rotten eggs"!Idea to put radar and ABM in Czech Republic and Poland was wrong-one!Thanke you...
Brave citizens of Prague and Trokavec “stay foot” as they the in the US Army! The mayors did a very good job and so you did! The US and their local puppets and a specific “foreign” minority will come back for the realization of this project. Politicians have to look first after their carriers. Among the reasons that US have temporarily retracted may also be the folloing: 1. - It is not the right time when US suffers an economic crises provoked by themselves, when millions are jobless and homeless, when the eighty military US bases around the world cost too much and when the country’s debt is rising. The US citizens may react violently this time, like they did once in L.A. for a great number of similar reasons...2. - They retract to manage the reactions better by propaganda, by buying or disciplining people, by manipulating etc. Do not step back! You have a lot to loose: your health {radiation} and eventually your life and your property, because it is only logic to bombard such areas. It is primarily an area problem. That means that it should be decided by the area people and not the whole country. table. Once US military set foot in your country they will define exercises and real war standard procedures, but they will prefer the real war procedures pretending that NATO computers were malfunctioning. As they are maniacs of manipulation they will corrupt your military and political personnel. I give you an example: When they manipulated the Turks to invade Cyprus so that “Israel” could have free access to the military airports of North Cyprus to attack Syria etc., they demanded that we should not move the units from northern Greece, because of an eminent invasion by Warsaw Pact. Our Secret Services and Generals, acting as foreign mercenaries in their own Patria spread the same lies. The Ambassador of US demanded the return of our navy and air force. NATO said school books should not refer to these events..
For 2 years the Czechs and the Poles were fed BS after BS that the radar is vital and will increase security and protect the country and the world from terrorism. The issue was beyond debate. Now, the US has scrapped it. So obviosuly it was not all that important. Now all these politicians look like a bunch of idiots and liars.