Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PRAGUE1215
2007-11-13 14:15:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Prague
Cable title:  

CZECH REPUBLIC MISSILE DEFENSE: CONCERNS ABOUT

Tags:  PREL MARR PGOV NATO PINS EZ XG 
pdf how-to read a cable
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OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHPG #1215/01 3171415
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 131415Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9794
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PRAGUE 001215 

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2017
TAGS: PREL MARR PGOV NATO PINS EZ XG
SUBJECT: CZECH REPUBLIC MISSILE DEFENSE: CONCERNS ABOUT
RUSSIANS ADDRESSED; LOOKING AHEAD TO TIMELINE AND ECONOMIC
BENEFITS

REF: PRAGUE 1174

Classified By: DCM Mary Thompson-Jones for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PRAGUE 001215

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2017
TAGS: PREL MARR PGOV NATO PINS EZ XG
SUBJECT: CZECH REPUBLIC MISSILE DEFENSE: CONCERNS ABOUT
RUSSIANS ADDRESSED; LOOKING AHEAD TO TIMELINE AND ECONOMIC
BENEFITS

REF: PRAGUE 1174

Classified By: DCM Mary Thompson-Jones for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Visits to Prague of USD(P) Eric Edelman and
U/S Rood, together with clear Czech statements following a
government meeting on November 6, appear to have put to rest
Czech concerns about possible Russian troops at the proposed
missile defense radar site (reftel). The Czechs told Edelman
and Rood that strong public sensitivities, and close
political balance, require that both sides work to minimize
any surprises or missteps in public communication. But both
within government and on the public record it is clear that
no USG invitation has been given to place Russian troops on
Czech soil. Discussions with USD(P) Edelman on November 6,
and with the two negotiating teams in Prague this week and
last, touched on several other important areas going forward:
the Czech calendar for ratification, the importance of the
Bucharest NATO Summit, and Czech interest in demonstrating
progress on economic cooperation. All these issues will
likely be on the agenda of Deputy PM Sasha Vondra when he
visits Washington November 14-15. End summary.

--------------
After the firestorm
--------------


2. (C) The press firestorm that followed Secretary Gates'
brief mention of possible Russian inspections of the planned
MD radar site in the Czech Republic (reftel) did not prove
long lasting. The story dropped from the front pages after
the October 27-28 weekend. But post continued to hear
questions and concerns about this for several days. The
Ambassador took every opportunity to reinforce the message
Secretary Gates was trying to make -- but was missed by most

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press commentators, and therefore by most Czechs -- that
there was no concrete offer for a Russian presence at the
radar site, and there would not be without coordination with

the Czech government. Among the more interesting discussions
in the past ten days:

-- Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg told the Ambassador October
28 that he was "surprised and disappointed" by the Gates
"announcement." He was even stronger with a visiting
American that same weekend, complaining that the U.S.
"announcement" about the Russian invitation to the radar site
"had been made with no prior warning" to the GOCR, which was
"an embarrassment to him."

-- Senior MFA officials, meeting with the embassy MD team on
October 29, also made reference to the alleged "announcement"
and specifically drew attention to the Secretary's use of the
word "presence" in his press comments, recommending that any
future public references refer only to possible inspections.
More broadly, MFA officials encouraged the USG to make sure
that any confidence building or transparency measures were
reciprocal. (In private comments, another MFA official, in
reference to Russia's rejection of the USG proposals, stated
plainly that "the Russians have won" and urged the USG not to
provide any further concessions to the GOR.)

-- A group of parliamentarians, during lunch with the
Ambassador on October 30, were more muted but stressed the
Czech public's intense sensitivity to Russian troops. The
MPs, several of whom had met with Secretary Gates during his
visit, acknowledged that the Secretary had been clear in his
statements with them, and that the problem was press
exaggeration of the issue, combined with the lack of a clear
government explanation.

-- During a visit to the Brdy region on October 31,
Ambassador met with several local mayors and asked their
reaction. All stated that Russian troops would be a concern,
and accepted Ambassador's assurances that no deals were being
struck without Czech participation. (In further discussions,
these mayors made clear that the concern of local residents
is less with the question of the nationality of the soldiers,
but the fact that any troops based at Brdy -- whether
Russian, German, or Czech -- have been poor neighbors who do
not interact well with local residents.)


3. (C) Several events in early November helped to bring this
issue to what we hope is closure.

-- The Czech National Security Council met morning of
November 6. President Klaus issued a clear statement
following the meeting that "there would be no Russian troops
permanently based at the radar." Klaus went on to say that
"since the beginning there has been a very technical
discussion on specific, occasional, and random monitoring;

PRAGUE 00001215 002 OF 004


there was no talk of deploying Russian troops on Czech soil."
Klaus termed these reports media fabrications. This clear
statement went a long way towards repairing the damage done
by PM Topolanek's "no comment" when asked about the Russian
question at the press conference with Secretary Gates.

-- USD(P) Edelman's visit to Prague on November 6 (discussed
further below) resulted in extensive press, including an
interview under the headline "There was no talk of a Russian
presence."

-- U/S Rood, in a press conference with Deputy FM Pojar at
the conclusion of negotiations on the Ballistic Missile
Defense Agreement (details septel),stressed that the two
sides had agreed that the text would make explicit that no
third party representatives would have access to the proposed
radar site without the explicit approval of both parties.

--------------
USD(P) Edelman in Prague
--------------


4. (C) USD(P) Eric Edelman's brief visit to Prague on
November 6 (arranged at short notice following the
cancellation of a planned trip to Pakistan) featured
extensive press and several important meetings.


5. (C) Edelman joined U/S Rood and Deputy FM Pojar for lunch
during a break in the BMDA negotiations. Deputy DefMin
Bartak and Czech MD Communications Coordinator Klvana, along
with other MFA staff, joined the lunch. While Pojar and the
subject of MD dominated the discussion, the focus was more on
NATO and the Bucharest Summit than internal Czech
developments. Pojar indicated that he was generally pleased
with the (albeit slow) progress of the MD negotiations and
that he thought the "Russian presence" uproar was already
behind them. He said that the topics of Kosovo and NATO
missile defense had dominated the agenda of the Czech
Security Council's morning meeting. Pojar emphasized that
some "courageous wording" on MD at the Bucharest Summit would
be critical to the parliamentary debate of U.S.-Czech
agreements. With regards to the vote in Parliament, Pojar
expressed optimism that the Czech Government would secure
"one hundred and one" votes in the 200 seat chamber; Pojar's
opinion was that the Social Democrats will not vote in favor,
but that Ondrej Liska (a leader in the Green Party) would act
"responsibly."


6. (C) The entire Czech team expressed exasperation at the
attitude of their Norwegian and German counterparts towards
MD, but were less pessimistic regarding their French
colleagues. Despite recent rumblings out of the Government
and Ministry of Defense in Bratislava, Pojar did not think
that the Slovaks would be a problem at Bucharest, but was
wary of the Greeks. CFE and the Russians also came up during
the discussion, with MFA staff urging the U.S. to talk more
to the Baltic states and to get the Alliance discussion
refocused from "how to keep the Russians in" to "what to do
when they leave." (Note: DepDefMin Bartak, who was almost
silent during the lunch, spoke with USDP prior to Pojar's
arrival. Bartak recently attended the Iraqi Coalition
Conference in Bahrain, where he had bilateral meetings with
ADM Fallon and Gen Petraeus. Referring to these bilaterals,
Bartak asked USDP when the Czechs might expect a deployment
request from the U.S. for their Special Operations Forces in
support of OEF.)


7. (C) Edelman met with Jan Vidim (ODS),Chairman of the
Defense Committee in the Chamber of Deputies. Also
participating were two CSSD deputies: Antonin Seda and
Vaclav Klucka. They had an excellent exchange, focused
solely on MD. Edelman kicked off the meeting with an
overview of the MD system, as well as the strategic
objectives underpinning the system and guiding our
discussions with Russia. Vidim, who is a strong supporter of
the radar, underscored the Czech public's skepticism toward
the radar proposal and made two points in this regard: 1)
the U.S. and the Czech sides had to be very careful on topics
like Russian inspections in light of historic sensitivities;
and 2) a link with NATO, and especially a strong statement
from the Bucharest summit, would go a long way toward
preparing the ground for an eventual passage of the MD
agreements in the Czech parliament.


8. (C) The opposition deputies, Seda and Klucka, have been
thoughtful and reasonable in prior radar discussions, and
both would probably support the MD agreements in the
parliamentary vote, if CSSD Chairman Paroubek decided not to
enforce party discipline. Klucka, for example, was at pains
to clarify that his and Seda,s position on MD was "careful,"

PRAGUE 00001215 003 OF 004


rather than negative. He also suggested -- and possibly
inadvertently took a swipe at Paroubek and his preoccupation
with the extent of the threat from Iran -- that if more
information were offered to the public regarding the Iranian
threat, Czech politicians would not be able to use it as a
pretext for opposing the radar. Seda followed up on Vidim,s
point on NATO by stating that "CSSD wants to see MD
incorporated into NATO." He also asked about the extent of
the threat and whether NATO's security indivisibility would
be threatened by the MD system, since not all NATO countries
would be covered by the MD umbrella.


9. (C) Edelman met with Deputy PM Sasha Vondra, a former
foreign minister and former Czech Ambassador in Washington,
who has been closely involved in the MD debate from the
start. Opening with the Russian troops question, Vondra
echoed some of the comments heard earlier from ForMin
Schwarzenberg about need for coordination before any
"announcements" are made to the media on sensitive topics,
stressing that domestic political sensitivities and the tight
political situation made it imperative that communication be
flawless. Vondra inquired about our timeline to reach
agreement on MD. Edelman noted that this "matters to the
President" and that the USG is looking to proceed with all
due speed. Edelman also commented that the negotiations are
proceeding steadily and that early next year could be a
reasonable target date. Vondra concurred that it was
important to get things done prior to the NATO Summit and
outlined very specific events and target dates that the
Czechs would like to meet. One priority is to have the
agreements signed and ratified well in advance of the
November 2008 regional election. According to Vondra, the
GOCR would like to see the texts ready for PM Topolanek and
President Bush to sign during Topolanek's planned visit to
Washington in February/March 2008: the Czechs see this as an
opportunity for significant media attention which will
provide momentum leading into the NATO Summit and Czech
ratification, which Vondra expects to see happen before the
summer recess. As a side note on the Summit, Vondra also
touched upon support within the alliance and stated that more
pressure needed to be applied to the Germans and the
Norwegians to get them to be more cooperative on MD.


10. (SBU) Media reporting following the Edelman visit and the
conclusion of the latest round of BMDA negotiations was
straightforward, highlighting agreement on the presence of a
Czech military commander at the proposed radar facility and
MD-related US installations. Many in the press noted the
remark made by Deputy FM Pojar that the CR will not charge
the USG any rent for the radar (note that, as discussed
septel, this issue is not yet closed in the talks). The
story got prominent placement on Czech Television, Czech
Radio, the Czech News Agency, three daily newspapers and all
online servers. Commercial TV station NOVA and the leading
daily, "Mlada Fronta Dnes," however, did not cover the
Rood/Edelman/Pojar press conference.

--------------
Vondra visit to Washington
--------------


11. (C) Deputy PM Vondra will visit Washington for
consultations November 15-16. While Vondra's current
portfolio is EU affairs, he has long been involved in the MD
debate. Vondra will be accompanied in Washington by two of
the MFA's senior staff handling MD (Veronika
Kucynova-Smigolova, Director of Security Policy, and Katerina
Weissova, communications advisor),giving an indication of
his priorities for his meetings. We understand that Vondra's
program is not yet firm, but he is seeking meetings at State,
DOD (including MDA),and Commerce.


12. (C) We expect that one of Vondra's main interests will be
discussing potential economic benefits from the radar. We
are hearing senior GOCR officials talk with greater frequency
and passion about economic benefits. For instance, PM
Topolanek asked several recent CODELs for help ensuring that
the MD effort led to some tangible improvement in Czech R&D
capabilities. During the two rounds of negotiations over the
past two weeks, negotiators from MFA and MOD both
consistently focused on the importance of demonstrating
economic benefits as part of the government effort to win
eventual approval of the MD agreements in the divided
parliament. The GOCR has specifically asked the MDA for a
program to bring Czech suppliers together with MDA and its
major contractors; MDA responded positively and plans a "BMD
Seminar" in January (MDA provided the Czechs with preliminary
thoughts on such a seminar on November 6). This also
explains the Czech focus on a BMD Framework Agreement with
MDA, and their desire to pinpoint tangible benefits that will

PRAGUE 00001215 004 OF 004


derive from such an agreement (MDA comments on this provided
November 2, State 152254). Other avenues being explored to
meet Czech requirements include a contracting training
seminar and, eventually, a reciprocal procurement agreement.


13. (C) Comment: MD will be only one of many things on
Vondra's mind. The coming months bring many international
questions that will require careful maneuvering in the
divided parliament. MD is the most complicated and
sensitive. Others include the 2008 foreign deployments bill
(including a new PRT in Afghanistan),the EU reform treaty,
and the possible recognition of an independent Kosovo (while
not requiring a vote in Parliament, it will be
controversial). Domestic issues -- notably the vote on a
relatively tight budget next month and the February
presidential election -- are also in the mix. And there is
the issue of energy security, one that is personally
important to both Vondra and PM Topolanek, but which risks
dividing the coalition because of the Greens' sensitivity to
increasing nuclear power. Many deals will need to be made in
order to both advance the Topolanek government's policy
objectives and keep the coalition intact. Vondra will have
these calculations in mind as he makes the rounds in
Washington. End comment.


14. (U) U/S Edelman has cleared this cable.
Graber