Missile defence plan on track

Eastern Europe: Plans for a European arm of the US missile defence system are taking shape, with the Czech Republic now the probable site for a radar station to track rockets from "rogue states" and Poland the likely launch base for missiles to shoot them down.

Washington says the system would protect the US and its European allies from missile attack by any country in the Middle East, with the focus clearly on an Iranian regime that the White House suspects of developing nuclear weapons.

But opposition to the project is becoming more vocal, not only in Poland and the Czech Republic but in Russia, which is warning that the deployment of a high-tech missile shield could spark a new arms race in eastern Europe.

"The whole thing is a problem of collective security, and it doesn't go against the interests of Nato and the European Union," said new Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek. "I'm unequivocally in favour of it." But he also suggested that only the radar base would be on Czech soil.

"The Czech Republic is not the top priority country for stationing the missiles," he said, adding that a "technical" facility would more likely to be built there. Such a solution might obviate a referendum on the issue, a move that he opposes.

After Pentagon experts examined possible sites for a base in both candidate countries, Poland has emerged as the likely host for the interceptor missile base. Polish media report that prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski will discuss terms for the deal when he visits Washington this month.

He is expected to ask for US help in accessing oil and gas from central Asia, to reduce Poland's energy dependency on Russia, with which Warsaw has rocky relations.