US Vice President Dick Cheney urged the Czech Republic on Friday to help host a proposed US anti-missile shield, praising the Central European nation as a strong NATO ally, according to dpa. Cheney's statement followed a diplomatically and politically sensitive visit by Czech President Vaclav Klaus. Polls show most Czechs oppose having a planned anti-missile radar base in their country and Russia has condemned the US project as a security threat. The Czech news agency CTK reported that Cheney told Klaus the US administration was in talks with Russia and had made an offer to Moscow to join the system. US officials said they could not confirm the report. "I think that the American side understands that it is a serious matter that necessarily invokes serious public discussion in each democratic society," Klaus told reporters after meeting Cheney. The two leaders discussed "the possibility of cooperation on missile defence against potential developing threats from the Middle East," Cheney's office said. Cheney "commended the Czech Republic's continuing contributions to global security as a strong NATO ally and stressed the US commitment to Euro-Atlantic security, which would be further strengthened by missile defence cooperation," the statement said. Poland - another former Soviet satellite that has joined NATO - is in talks with Washington to host interceptor missiles for the global shield, which the US says is meant to protect against possible ballistic missile threats from foes such as Iran and North Korea. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denounced the project as a threat to Moscow's security and said Russia would counter the defence shield with a similar system. The US insists the plan poses no threat to Russia. Building the radar base in Czech Republic requires approval by both houses of the nation's parliament. The two main parties in Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's centre-right coalition support the plan, but the junior-partner Greens are seeking guarantees that the base would be placed under NATO control in the future. A recent poll found 70 per cent of Czechs reject the facility. The head of the US missile defence effort, Lieutenant General Henry Obering, plans to visit Ukraine, France and Germany next week to promote the Pentagon's plan. The US could have missile defences in Poland and the Czech Republic by 2011 if agreements with the two countries to install the system are reached within a year, Obering said last month. The US hopes to have at least one of 10 planned missiles in place by 2011. The arsenal of 10 interceptors would be complete by 2013, he said.
