The Ne Zakladnam (No Bases Initiative) campaign in the Czech Republic is in the midst of campaigning against the US missile defence radar site planned by the US in their country. And with considerable success. This March, the Czech government who had already agreed to the new base withdrew the proposal from voting in the Czech parliament, realising that they were likely to lose the vote. A few days later the government fell. A large majority of Czech citizens, mayors and a growing number of politicians is opposed to the planned radar site. We have asked Jana Glivicka and her colleagues of the Ne Zakladnam campaign to share with us their experiences and the next stages in their campaign. This is their blog.
The "Iranian threat" has been a leitmotiv of the former Czech government and its spin doctors when trying to sell the project of missile defense to the Czech citizens. A newly released study "Iran’s Nuclear and Missile Potential" by EastWest Institute concludes:
This report has concluded that there is at present no IRBM/ICBM threat from Iran and that such a threat, even if it were to emerge, is not imminent. Moreover, if such a threat were forthcoming, the proposed European missile defenses would not provide a dependable defense against it. It does not make sense, therefore, to proceed with deployment of the European missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Read the full text of the study