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CBO compares the potential cost and performance of MDA’s proposed European system with the cost and performance of three other options for deploying missile defenses in Europe... * Defense of Europe. All of the alternatives CBO considered would provide defense of most of Europe roughly equivalent to the defense provided by MDA’s proposal against most types of ballistic missiles that Iran is thought to have developed or could develop in the future... * Extended Defense of the United States. MDA’s proposed system would complement the coverage already available from U.S.-based interceptors by providing redundant defense from a third interceptor site...

Despite the outcry that President Obama has sold out the Europeans and caved to the Russians by cancelling missile defenses in Europe, it was the right thing to do. Those defenses were not going to work (or work well enough or soon enough to matter in any major crisis with Iran), and the diplomatic price we were paying for them was far out of proportion to any small gains we might have made by annoying the Russians or reassuring the Czechs and the Poles. (The stated reason for the cancellation — that we’re more worried about medium-range missile threats —...

News comes on the 70th Anniversary of Soviet Invasion of Poland in WWII!Remember all Obama's talk during last year's presidential campaign about improving our relations with other nations? Well, today, President Obama gave a huge slap in the face to Poland and the Czech Republic, two allies who went out on a limb to support U.S. plans for a missile defense shield needed ever more so in an era when Iran and North Korea are threatening the world with these dangerous weapons.The move is a transparent bid to appease Russia, which continues to refuse every plea that it help us...

PRAGUE – Czechs and Poles expressed rancor and relief Thursday that President Barack Obama had scrapped plans for a U.S. missile defense shield on their territories, reflecting deep divisions over a proposal that had also enraged Russia.

Czechs praise Kaczynski’s apology for 1938 annexation 03.09.2009 09:43 Jan Sechter, the Czech Ambassador in Warsaw, has praised remarks by President Kaczynski, describing Poland’s part in the annexing of Sudetenland just before WW II as “a sin”. “Poland’s participation in the annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1938 was not only an error, but above all a sin,” Kaczynski told an audience of world leaders, including Prime Minister Putin and Chacellor Merkel on September 1. “This was and shall forever remain a wrong,” he added. President Kaczynski’s remarks were made in speeches commemorating the 70th anniversary of the start of WW II...

RUMOR MILL (as of yet unconfirmed since the report has not been made public yet): Per Investor's Business Daily Friday, there's a report going around that the O'admin has decided to renege on building a missile defense system in Europe to protect Poland and the Czech Republic. If it's true, Obama has... once more... indicated to our allies that Obama's "remade America" is there not to protect them, but to betray them. The U.S. has abandoned plans to install a missile defense system in Europe, according to a report. If true, this is a major strategic error that will have...

Czech archaeologists have uncovered a unique 1000-year-old mark engraved into an oak tree the remains of which were found near Celakovice in Prague, which is probably the oldest preserved sign of this kind in the world. According to a report from the Czech News Agency, the real meaning of the 10-cm star-shaped mark on the oak trunk is not certain. Experts say it may have marked the territory or serve some iconic purposes. This find is rare as so old engraved signs were not previously mapped and they are not systematically searched for either, archaeologist Jana Marikova of the Academy...

"Many Eastern Europeans today still feel enormous gratitude to U.S. efforts to oppose their oppressive communist-era regimes, with a particular affection for Ronald Reagan and other Republican leaders. Polish analyst Olaf Osica, with the Natolin European Center think tank in Warsaw, said the region tends to view Democratic administrations with more skepticism, fearful they will favor a "realistic" approach to Russia over the "idealism" of opposing Moscow's strength" "Had a 'realist' view prevailed in the early 1990s, we would not be in NATO today and the idea of a Europe whole, free, and at peace would be a distant dream,"...

If Plastic Surgery Won’t Convince You, What Will? By DAN BILEFSKY PRAGUE — When Petra Kalivodova, a 31-year-old nurse, was considering whether to renew her contract at a private health clinic here, special perks helped clinch the deal: free German lessons, five weeks of vacation, and a range of plastic-surgery options, including complimentary silicone-enhanced breasts. “I would rather have plastic surgery than a free car,” said Ms. Kalivodova, who opted for cosmetic breast surgery that would normally cost €2,600, or about $3,500, as well as liposuction on her thighs and stomach. These were physical enhancements, she said, that she could...

Czech PM does not regret ‘road to hell’ row By Tony Barber in Prague Published: May 7 2009 08:55 | Last updated: May 7 2009 08:55 Mirek Topolanek, the outgoing Czech prime minister, says he has no regrets about condemning US economic policies as a potential “road to hell” in spite of the deep embarrassment his remarks caused the European Union. In an interview with the Financial Times, he also said that, if he could have done one thing differently during the four months he steered the EU’s affairs, it would have been to rein in the free-ranging Middle East...

Topolanek: Pyongyang's nuclear programme 'extremely dangerous' Posted : Sun, 03 May 2009 19:41:49 GMT Author : DPA Category : Europe (World) News Alerts by Email ( click here ) Europe World News | Home Prague - Outgoing Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country presides over the European Union until June 30, on Sunday called North Korea's nuclear programme "extremely dangerous."Topolanek spoke to reporters after bilateral talks with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso, who arrived in Prague for an EU summit on Monday to be chaired by Czech President Vaclav Klaus. On Wednesday, North Korea threatened to test a nuclear...

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek met with President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Friday, and reiterated his country's commitment to strengthen ties between Israel and the European Union.

PRAGUE (AFP) – The Czech Republic's prime minister hopes to persuade US President Barack Obama not to abandon a controversial missile shield project in Eastern Europe when he visits Prague this weekend. "I will tell him that we, unlike him, are complying with the ratification" of diplomatic and military contracts on the missile shield signed in 2008, outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said recently on the Czech Radio. Washington's new policy of dialogue with Moscow has increased anxiety among Prague and Warsaw leaders who support a radar base on Czech soil and anti-missile interceptors in Poland despite loud protests from...

Here is a video report on the remarks of Czech Prime Minister Topolanek in which he said President Barack Obama's economic policies are a "road to hell." Topolanek far more fiscally conservative and was a strong ally of former President George W. Bush. He made the comments before the European Union Parliament. . . . . . (Watch Video)

The Czech Republic's centre-right minority government has lost a vote of confidence in parliament midway through the country's six-month EU presidency. The result came after a group of four rebel MPs voted with the opposition Social Democrats and Communists against Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. Together they garnered 101 votes in the 200-seat chamber, the minimum required. Mr Topolanek said he would step down, but correspondents say it is unclear how long he will remain in the post. Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek said ahead of the vote that the government could "complete the Czech EU presidency or its substantial part"....

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's minority center-right government lost a vote of confidence on Tuesday, forcing it out of office and undermining policy-making during the global economic downturn.

KRAKOW, Poland, Feb. 19, 2009 – A NATO ballistic missile defense system wouldn’t be needed if Iran didn’t pose a threat, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. “We continue to be very concerned about the Iranian missile threat, particularly as they continue to work on what we believe are weapons of mass destruction,” Gates told reporters following the beginning of the NATO defense ministers meeting here. NATO has agreed to a ballistic missile defense that would protect against a launch from Iran. The Czech Republic will host a radar for the system, with the missiles based in Poland....

Czech president compares EU to Soviet Union BRUSSELS – The European Union has turned into an undemocratic and elitist project comparable to the Communist dictatorships of eastern Europe that forbade alternative thinking, Czech President Vaclav Klaus told the European Parliament on Thursday. Klaus, whose country now holds the rotating EU presidency, set out a scathing attack on the EU project and its institutions, provoking boos from many lawmakers, some of whom walked out, but applause from nationalists and other anti-EU legislators. Klaus is known for deep skepticism of the EU and has refused to fly the EU flag over his...

Czechs criticised over castration The Czech Republic has been strongly criticised by Europe's leading human rights body for continuing to surgically castrate male sex offenders. The Council of Europe said castrations had sometimes been performed without warnings of side effects and on men not capable of making an informed decision. Those requesting castration feared life in jail if they did not do so, it said. The Czech government says 94 procedures have been performed in the past 10 years, all in accordance with its laws. A further 300 Czech men have undergone chemical castration - involving the injection of drugs...

A new art installation going on display at the European Council building in Brussels has angered EU members with its lampoons of national stereotypes. Entropa portrays Bulgaria as a toilet, Romania as a Dracula theme-park and France as a country on strike. The Czech Republic, which holds the EU presidency, thought it had commissioned work from 27 European artists. But it turned out to have been entirely completed by Czech artist David Cerny and two associates.