CZECHS DISCUSS STRATEGY WITH U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 000828 SIPDIS SIPDIS NOFORN EUR/NCE FOR FICHTE, PM/RSAT FOR DOWLEY, OSD/ISP FOR ZACCOR AND SADOWSKA, OSD/FP FOR IARROBINO AND MINATELLI E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2016 TAGS: MARR PREL MASS MARS EZ SUBJECT: CZECHS DISCUSS STRATEGY WITH U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE PRINCIPALS REF: A. PRAGUE 771 ¶B. PRAGUE 757 ¶C. PRAGUE 803 ¶D. PRAGUE 820 ¶E. PRAGUE 823 Classified By: Ambassador William Cabaniss for reasons 1.4 (b) + (d). ¶1. (S/NF) Summary: Senior Czech officials July 19 hosted a joint OSD-Missile Defense Agency (MDA) policy team led by DASD Brian Green. Discussions were positive, with Czech questions focusing on information that could be used to manage the domestic political and public affairs dynamics of the Czech candidacy. The Czechs accepted DASD Green's invitation to send a joint MFA-MOD team to Washington in mid-August to continue the dialogue. End summary. ¶2. (S/NF) Deputy Foreign Minister Thomas Pojar, joined by MFA Political Director Martin Povejsil and MFA Security Policy Director Veronika Smigolova, welcomed DASD Brian Green and MDA Deputy Director BG Keith McNamara July 19 to discuss the Czech Republic's candidacy to host a missile defense site. The MOD's Defense Policy Director Radomir Jahoda represented Deputy Defense Minister Martin Belcik, who was unexpectedly called away by his minister. ¶3. (S/NF) DASD Green and BG McNamara thanked the Czechs for supporting the MDA site survey team currently operating in the Czech republic. DASD Green said he welcomed the opportunity to brief the Czechs on the issues and looked forward to discussing the Czech perspective in detail. ¶4. (S/NF) DFM Pojar said he welcomed the opportunity to become fully educated on the MD project. He observed that information sharing would be essential in the coming weeks, noting the Czech Republic and the United States would have to work closely together to manage the political elements of missile defense. Pojar's questions focused on technical aspects: the area of the installation, the size of the personnel contingent, and major criteria used in assessing the competitiveness of each site. Pojar seemed surprised to learn that the radar dome would "only be 70 feet in diameter," joking that he could describe this to environmentalists as a "ping-pong ball." Pojar also asked about the U.S. decision-making and construction timelines. Finally, he cautioned that, although the Czech Republic would not/not request any kind of a quid pro quo for hosting an MD base, some in Czech society would use the media to call for such an arrangement. He asked that the U.S. to be mindful that much of the media debate would not reflect the final GOCR offer. ¶5. (S/NF) Turning to public affairs issues, Security Policy Director Smigolova said both the MOD and MFA agreed the political benefits of MD outweigh the risks. Referring to a poll released July 19, Smigolova said that with a newspaper claiming 83% opposition to MD in the Czech Republic (Ref D), Czech officials would have to explain to the public that hosting the United States installation would be nothing like the experience with Russian bases. She also said they would have to address a public perception that an MD base would make the Czech Republic a target for terrorists. Political Director Povejsil said the Czechs would have to know what information would be publicly releasable from a U.S. standpoint. Such information would form part of a Czech-run public education campaign. For example, Japan's cooperation in the project by hosting a radar would resonate with the Czech public, because they would realize that they were not being singled out as a sole cooperating nation. Povejsil asked whether in the medium term the U.S. might be able to assist with Czech public diplomacy efforts, perhaps by hosting a visit of Czech journalists to a U.S. facility. BG McNamara said he would welcome the opportunity to develop a phased strategy, government then public representatives, for such outreach. Both sides agreed that maximum openness would be ideal, and agreed to stay in close contact. ¶6. (S/NF) Pojar raised the issue of Czech high-tech companies that would welcome the opportunity to talk with U.S. experts to see if any of their technologies would be useful as future elements of U.S. missile defense architecture (Note: The Czechs are world-leaders in the area of certain remote sensing technologies. End note). He acknowledged that this could be an opportunity for future collaboration, rather than a defined part of the facility under consideration. BG PRAGUE 00000828 002 OF 002 McNamara said such cooperation might be considered, and explained that members of his agency were always open to examining new technologies that might be useful. ¶7. (S/NF) DASD Green invited the Czechs to send a team to Washington in the mid-August timeframe for a detailed discussion on all aspects of host-country cooperation. The Czechs accepted the U.S. offer, indicating that they would work carefully with the U.S. to craft the appropriate interagency team for the visit. ¶8. (U) DASD Green and BG McNamara have cleared this cable. CABANISS CABANISS