About 1,500 people took part in the demonstration which started elsewhere in Prague centre and moved to the Government Office within a protest march, organisers from the No to Bases group said. The police estimated the number of participants at 1,000. "The goal of our protest is to point out that a majority of Czechs does not want [U.S.] soldiers to stay on our territory," No to Bases spokesman Jan Tamas said, referring to public opinion polls. He said that not only the radar was at stake, but also democracy in the Czech Republic. "If a majority of people does not wish something and the government pushes the same through, it seems to me that we Live - Sunday football ...
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Visit to Syria does not contradict Czech foreign policy-CSSD ... are not that far away from the pre-1989 era," Tamas said. No incidents accompanied the protest march and rally and there were no reasons for the police to intervene. The participants shouted slogans protesting against the radar and lashing out at Mirek Topolanek, head of the centre-right government. Some were carrying flags and banners reading "No to American radar colonisation!," "Say No to radar," and "1938 Hitler, 1968 Brezhnev, 2008 Bush." In the beginning the organisers of the march called on the participants to support the Greenpeace activists occupying the planned radar site in the Brdy military district southwest of Prague.
They appealed on the protesters to visit the Greenepeace activitists right at the spot height 718 in Brdy, and also to address deputies and senators. The protesters were addressed by Lubomir Zaoralek, lower house deputy head for the senior opposition Social Democracy (CSSD), which is against the radar. Zaoralek promised the protesters that the lower house will prevent the passing of the Czech-U.S. treaties on the radar installation. A demonstration against the planned radar on Czech territory was also held in Poland today. About 20 Poles rallied outside the Czech embassy in Warsaw to voice their protest. Czech PM Mirek Topolanek (Civic Democrats, ODS) recently said Prague and Washington might sign the two radar-related treaties in June. Afterwards the treaties will be submitted to Czech parliament.
(Ceske Noviny)
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