The Prague Post
October 12th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Real Estate Prague Prague Rentals Prague Apartments Prague Art & Antiques

Home » Archives » News

Scattered protests reveal uncertainty

Many oppose radar but others fear isolation

June 6th, 2007 issue

Jan Přerovský/THE PRAGUE POST
Several hundred protesters gathered near Prague Castle Monday evening, but turnout was lower than expected and messages were mixed.
enlarge
enlarge
Despite pledges of mass protests, only several hundred opponents of the planned U.S. missile base in the Czech Republic briefly gathered at key sites in Prague Monday evening and Tuesday morning. Security forces were out in force, however, and Prague Castle was closed to visitors while the Prague Hilton, where U.S. President George W. Bush allegedly slept, was all but cordoned off.
A Czech missile-defense program spokseman, Tomáš Klvaňa, called the security measures for Bush’s visit “excessive,” and at press time no serious incidents or confrontations were reported in Prague.
Monday evening, some 200 protesters, most organized by the Communist Youth Union, waved flags and chanted slogans in front of the U.S. Embassy but promised mass demonstrations like those that filled Wenceslas Square with 2,000 people May 26, never materialized.
Opponents to the radar base say they have gathered more than 100,000 signatures calling for a referendum on the issue and mayors of towns in the proposed radar base area, 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Prague, have also voiced criticism.
“I am not here because I am a communist voter or anything like that,” said demonstrator Pavel Bácha, in a crowd near the U.S. Embassy with signs reading “Bush is not welcome here” and “We are against imperialism.” “I am not against the U.S. as a whole,” he said. “I just detest what Mr. Bush is doing.”
The crowd marched toward Prague Castle, where protesters joined several hundred others around 9 p.m. in the Pohořelec and Loretánské náměstí areas.
Jan Neoral, mayor of Trokavec in the Brdy military area, denounced the prime minister, foreign affairs and defense ministers in a speech to the crowd, saying, “Our politicians — Topolánek, Schwarzenberg, Parkanová — are selling out our country.”
Demonstrator Magda Mešková said, “We should go together with Europe and Russia and not with America. America doesn’t care about the Czech Republic.”
Others, such as Břetislav Halášek, voiced support for the base. “Thank god that for the first time ever we will have our backs covered,” he said. “Americans would never occupy us like the Russians did. I don’t trust Russians at all. Putin is frightening.”
— Hela Balínová, Jana Donovan, Markéta Hulpachová, Beth Potter, Will Tizard and Lisa Nuch Venbrux


Other articles in News (6/06/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.