CZECHS DELIVER WISH LIST FOR MISSILE DEFENSE PUBLIC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRAGUE 000823 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/PPD, EUR/FO, PA, PM, ISN, P STAFF, R STAFF SECDEF FOR DASD GREEN MDA FOR O'REILLY, MORGAN, ENGLANDER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV MASS MARR EZ SUBJECT: CZECHS DELIVER WISH LIST FOR MISSILE DEFENSE PUBLIC OUTREACH REF: PRAGUE 802 PRAGUE 591 ¶1. (SBU) Summary and comment: Government Coordinator for Communication of Missile Defense Program Tomas Klvana delivered a "wish list" of proposed ballistic missile defense (BMD) public diplomacy activities to the Embassy July 11. This list resulted from Klvana's consultations in Washington June 25-29 and includes recommendations for high-level U.S. visits to the Czech Republic as well as Czech official and press visits to Kwajelein Atoll and other MDA facilities. Klvana requested the Embassy pass the list to Washington. ¶2. (SBU) Klvana's consultations in Washington and attached "wish list," indicate that our Czech counterparts are starting to give needed attention to a structured, long-term public diplomacy effort. Although Klvana has yet to develop a comprehensive public diplomacy plan, in response to Post advice he has quickly identified events that would require support from Washington. The Czech government and Post agree that educating independent experts and opposition leaders about missile defense is important to overcome local opposition to BMD. A further positive development is the Czech offer to fund a significant portion of trip expenses. Post recommends supporting the Czech public diplomacy plan. End summary and comment. ¶3. (SBU) The text of the Czech proposed BMD public outreach activities follows. State Department -------------- -------------- ¶A. Official visit of Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns as keynote speaker for Czech-Polish -US-NATO Conference --Theme: NATO Dimension of Missile Defense --Timing: second half of January 2008 --Invitations will also go to: NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland, Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar; Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski. The event will be live broadcast on Czech TV 24. --Additional Program for Under Secretary Burns: - Exclusive interview for Czech daily newspaper Hospodarske noviny in Washington prior to visit to the Czech Republic - Interview for Czech TV - Visit of local mayors in Misov - Lecture in the Senate of the Parliament of the CR on the issue of US - Europe Relations - Breakfast with members of Harvard Club ¶B. Official visit of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Kurt Volker to the Czech Republic --Timing: second half of October 2007 --Program: Panel Discussion on a theme of Political Dimension of Missile Defense Program organized and sponsored by Czech Euro Atlantic Council, Czech NGO --Participants: approximately forty Czech experts invited by the organizers --Media: Interviews for regional media, Czech newspaper Mf Dnes, Czech News Agency Department of Defense/OSD -------------- -- -------------- ¶C. Official visit of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategic Capabilities Brian R. Green to the Czech Republic --Timing: late November 2007 --Program: - A day visit to the region - meeting local mayors in Misov, the closest village to the planning location of radar - Regional media availability in Pribram - Panel discussion with Czech experts and students taking place at Western Bohemia University in Pilsen, organized by Program for Security Studies Institute, Czech NGO - Interview for Czech TV A visit of Mr. Volker or Mr. Green to the Czech Republic can be linked with a prospective official state visit of Defense Secretary PRAGUE 00000823 002 OF 003 Robert Gates in autumn 2007. Missile Defense Agency -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶D. Visit of Czech experts to U.S. Missile Defense radar base in Kwajalein to conduct independent measurements -- Timing: first half/second half of September 2007 (sooner is better) --Participants of the visit: Czech Chief Hygiene Officer Michael Vit, Faculty of Military Health Sciences in Hradec Kralove Peter Bednarcik and two independent experts, one from the Charles University and one from Masaryk University --Funding: The visit will be paid by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ¶E. Two-day visit of MDA Deputy for International Affairs Nancy E. Morgan and Chief Engineer Keith L. Englander to the Czech Republic We would highly recommend postponing a planed August visit to the Czech Republic to September 25 - 26, 2007. The reason is that a parliamentary session August 13 - 20, 2007 will be an emergency meeting focusing only on a debate about a reform of public finances. There are usually committees sessions taking place prior to the parliamentary sessions but it seems that this time only budgetary committee is planning to meet. Therefore we would suggest coming to Prague in a time of the first regular parliamentary meeting starting September 24, 2007. --Timing: September 25 - 26, 2007 --Program: - September 25: Seminar in the Chamber of Deputies for MPs and an interview on Czech TV's main news program - September 26: Presentation by Nancy Morgan and Keith Englander at a panel of experts, moderated by Tomas Klvana. The event will be organized by Association for International Affairs and open to public and media. Also visit Misov, the closest village to the planned location of the radar to meet local mayors and make a presentation for them. Available to meet local media ¶F. Visit of MDA Deputy Director Brigadier General Patrick J. O4Reilly to the Czech Republic --Timing: September 13 - 15, 2007 --Program: - Exclusive interview for Czech daily newspaper Hospodarske Noviny in Washington, prior to visiting the Czech Republic - September 13: Interview for Czech TV - September 14: Presentation and Q&A by BG O'Reilly at a public lecture in Ostrava hosted by regional governor Evzen Tosenovsky. Available for regional media - September 15: Short speech by BG O4Reilly during the opening ceremony of NATO Day taking place at Mosnov airport. Meet with the public at the airport and photo pool with Romas Sebrle, a very famous Czech decathlete and winner of several World Championships and Olympic Games, who is also a Czech soldier ¶G. Group of Czech journalists visit Colorado Command Center --Timing: roughly mid October 2007 --Participants of the visit: Journalists from the biggest and most influential Czech media (Czech TV, Hospodarske noviny, Czech Radio, Czech News Agency, Mlada Fronta Dnes),plus two experts - one from Czech Euro Atlantic Council and one from Masaryk University in Brno --Funding: Paid for by the media (except accommodation - would it be possible to accommodate them in the Centre?) and travel costs for experts covered by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs ¶H. Group of Czech regional journalists visiting radar in Kwajalein --Timing: first half of November --Participants of the visit: Regional journalists and TV Nova (commercial TV),and two experts - one from Prague Security Studies Institute (Czech NGO) and the second from the Charles University --Funding: Paid for by the media (except for accommodation) and travel costs for experts covered by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs ¶I. Group of Czech Members of the Parliament visiting US Missile Defense radar base in Kwajalein PRAGUE 00000823 003 OF 003 --Timing: second half of November 2007 --Participants: MPs from Green party, MPs and senator from the opposition - Social Democrats, Tomas Klvana --Funding: Paid for by the Czech Parliament and the Czech Office of the Government GRABER