CzechRep should paly important role in new shield - U.S official

She, however, did not give any reply to a question about the concrete form of Czech participation.

Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar said he spoke with Tauscher about ways of integrating the missile shield in the NATO structures.

He said no Czech expert has left for the United States to seek concrete opportunities for the Czech Republic's participation in the shield at the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

Agreement on the stay of a Czech expert at the MDA was reached during U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow's visit to Prague in early November.

The new system of missile defence is designed mainly against medium- and short-range missiles with which Iran might threaten European countries.

It is prepared by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration who scrapped his predecessor George Bush's plans for a missile shield.

Bush's system was mainly aimed against Iran's long-range missiles and a radar base on Czech soil was to be part of it.

Czech Social Democrat chairman Jiri Paroubek said earlier today that Tauscher told him that Iran might threaten Europe with long-range missiles within ten and more years, not in 2015 to 2017 as Bush's administration assumed.

Tauscher praised Czech-U.S. relations after her meeting with Pojar.

She said the Czech Republic is a strategic ally of the United States and thanked for Czech soldiers' participation in the Afghan mission.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz