BERLIN: This month, the Czechs discovered the beauty of sovereignty. Defying Russia, the government in Prague signed an accord with the United States to accept on its territory a radar tracking system for the Pentagon's controversial anti-ballistic missile defense system. Soon after Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, had completed the signing ceremony in Prague, the Kremlin announced it would retaliate. Oil deliveries, which Russia sends to the Czech Republic through the Druzba, or Friendship, pipeline were reduced as much as 40 percent. Officially, Russia denied that the decision was a response to the missile shield agreement. "The Russian side said it was due to technical reasons," said Tomas Bartovsky, a spokesman for the Czech Trade and Industry Ministry. No further explanations were given, he said. Full deliveries have yet to be resumed, but there has been no outcry in Prague. There also has been no shortage of energy. Within a day of the Russian cut, additional oil supplies were flowing through the IKL pipeline from Germany. This was possible because the Czech Republic is the only former Communist country in Eastern Europe that has access to alternate sources of energy, thanks to a decision made back in the early 1990s.
BERLIN: This month, the Czechs discovered the beauty of sovereignty.
Defying Russia, the government in Prague signed an accord with the United States to accept on its territory a radar tracking system for the Pentagon's controversial anti-ballistic missile defense system.
Soon after Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, had completed the signing ceremony in Prague, the Kremlin announced it would retaliate. Oil deliveries, which Russia sends to the Czech Republic through the Druzba, or Friendship, pipeline were reduced as much as 40 percent.
Officially, Russia denied that the decision was a response to the missile shield agreement. "The Russian side said it was due to technical reasons," said Tomas Bartovsky, a spokesman for the Czech Trade and Industry Ministry. No further explanations were given, he said.
Full deliveries have yet to be resumed, but there has been no outcry in Prague. There also has been no shortage of energy. Within a day of the Russian cut, additional oil supplies were flowing through the IKL pipeline from Germany. This was possible because the Czech Republic is the only former Communist country in Eastern Europe that has access to alternate sources of energy, thanks to a decision made back in the early 1990s.
The Cold War frame of this article by Judy Dempsey is striking. Smells of mothballs round here? Well, sure, isn't that Cheney over in that dark corner?
the government in Prague signed an accord with the United States to accept on its territory a radar tracking system for the Pentagon's controversial anti-ballistic missile defense system.
Yes, having another great power's military hardware and soldiers on its territory is a sure sign of sovereignty.
Irony fails. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
