Prague - Nearly seven out of 10 Czechs continue to oppose placing a US missile shield base on Czech soil, according to an opinion poll released by the Czech Foreign Ministry on Thursday. The opinion poll conducted for the ministry by Factum Invenio polling agency revealed that 68 per cent of the 1,018 Czechs surveyed in late October rejected the US plan, while 25 per cent supported the controversial facility.
The results echoed those of earlier surveys carried out by Factum Invenio and other pollsters, which have regularly showed that more than 6 out of 10 Czechs are against the project.
The only exception was a September poll by the Stem polling agency conducted for the government coordinator in charge of the US radar. It said that 49 per cent of Czechs reject the facility, while 22 per cent support it.
However, the agency's director Jan Hartl then said the results should not be interpreted as a dip in the opposition to the US plan, as Stem pollsters asked different questions than in previous polls.
In January, the United States officially asked the Czech Republic and Poland to host a tracking radar and 10 interceptor missiles respectively as part of a missile defence system that the US says is designed to protect against potential long-range missiles from Iran.
The US plan has infuriated Russia, which claims the system will be aimed at its nuclear arsenal.
Despite adverse public opinion, the governments of both formerly communist countries, which are now members of NATO and the European Union, welcomed the plan and entered into bilateral talks with the US.
In the Czech Republic, the fate of the radar base will be very likely decided by parliament mid next year. The centre-right ruling coalition so far lacks a clear majority for the project in the narrowly-divided lower house.
