Stunning Victory For Czech Opponents Of
Contact: Joanne Landy, Campaign for Peace and Democracy
jlandy@igc.org
New York, March 18, 2009 In a major setback for
Pentagon plans to install a
the
withdrew, at least temporarily (and possibly for good),
its proposal to ratify an agreement on the base. Czech
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek halted the ratification
process when it appeared that the Chamber of Deputies
was likely to vote to reject the agreement. According
to Jana Glivicka, a leader of the grassroots ?No Bases
Initiative? that has been active in opposing the radar
for more than two years, this was a very significant
retreat, since the radar has been promoted as one of
the key accomplishments of the current government.
Two thirds of Czechs have consistently opposed the
radar ever since it was first proposed in 2006. Anti-
radar activists have repeatedly called for a referendum
on the issue, but have been rebuffed. Meanwhile, in
2008 the Czech government signed the agreement with the
radar, and the Czech Senate approved the accord.
However the agreement could not be implemented until
the Czech Chamber of Deputies ratified it. Thanks to
the tireless activities of anti radar groups in the
country, the No Bases Initiative and the Nonviolence
Movement, popular opinion remained strongly mobilized
against the radar. This public opposition culminated in
a likely “no” vote in the Chamber.
The anti-radar movement has drawn support from around
the world from people alarmed by the dangerous military
escalation of the proposed European ?missile defense?
program of the Czech radar and its companion
Interceptor missiles in
the Campaign for Peace and Democracy has since November
2007 supported the movement with public statements,
letters published in The New York Times and The New
York Review of Books, visits to the Czech
the United Nations, demonstrations, a hunger strike,
and, over the past weekend, an open letter to members
of the Czech Chamber of Deputies signed by more than
550 people in less than 48 hours.
The CPD open letter was sent on Monday March 16 to all
200 member of the Chamber of Deputies. A member of the
Chamber planned to read the letter aloud from the floor
of the Chamber if the ratification had come up for a
vote, Signers included public figures such as Noam
Chomsky and Ariel Dorfman, and leaders of many major
the
including the Polish intellectual Adam Chmielewski,
Iranian human rights activists, and a number of
individuals from the
countries. The text of the letter and list of signers
are available at the CPD website, www.cpdweb.org
Czech Prime Minister Topolanek said that the government
has not abandoned its plan for the radar. "This does
not mean we would give up on the ratification process,"
Topolanek said in a live television address. "We will
return to this issue after talks with the
administration and after the NATO summit in
and Kehl." (This information is from a Reuters story.
Up until now there has been no significant
coverage of the withdrawal of the Czech government
proposal.) It is by no means clear that the government
will in fact reintroduce the radar for a vote after the
NATO summit in early April. In any event, anti-radar
activists in the
supporters are committed to continuing their campaign
until such time as the proposal to install the radar is
decisively and permanently withdrawn.
The Campaign For Peace And Democracy (CPD) advocates a
new, progressive and non-militaristic
policy -- one that encourages democracy, justice and
social change. Founded in 1982, the Campaign opposed
the Cold War by promoting "detente from below." It
engaged Western peace activists in the defense of the
rights of democratic dissidents in the
activists against anti-democratic
countries like
movements for peace, social justice and democratic
rights, taken together, as the embryo of an alternative
to great power politics and to the domination of
society by privileged elites.
Other current CPD campaigns are an open letter to
Iranian officials in defense of human rights leader
Shirin Ebadi, published by the
at http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22511, and a
statement on
Israel!," available at the CPD website.
Campaign for Peace and Democracy
2790 Broadway, #12,
Tel (212) 666-4001, Cell (646) 207-5203,
Fax (212) 866-5847.
Email: cpd@igc.org
Web: www.cpdweb.org
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