Politicians on US missile base

Czech political parties are presenting their views on the possibility of having a US missile base on Czech territory, even though Washington has not yet made known its preference on where it would like to station it. Both Poland and the Czech Republic are still in the running. The Social Democratic Party has said it wants a broad public debate on the issue and is pushing for a national referendum should the Czech Republic receive an offer from the United States. The Green Party said in a statement Sunday that a US military base should not be stationed on Czech territory on the basis of a bilateral agreement alone, but should involve NATO and the EU. The Civic Democratic Party alone appears to support the idea without reservations, but has not ruled out a referendum on the issue. The only opinion survey available on the subject suggests that 82 percent of Czechs do not want a US missile base in the Czech Republic.