Czech Republic

The European (or “third”) pillar of missile defense is a planned component of the American national missile defense system, tasked with protecting the United States of America (and indirectly, their allies) from possible ballistic missile attack. The American missile defense system has been in development since the 1950s in various modifications, but it was not until the administration of the Republican President George W. Bush that it was expanded (President Clinton only supported a project for missile defense in combat - TMD). In 2001, the United States increased funding for missile defense and withdrew from the Soviet-American Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (the ABM treaty). That treaty, signed in 1972, restricted the distribution of missile defense capabilities.

In October 2007, the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic publicized the first version of its priorities for the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU. The materials were based on preparations which had begun immediately after the 2006 elections. The government, namely the Subdivision of the Deputy Minister for European Affairs (Útvar místopředsedy vlády pro evropské záležitosti  - ÚMVEZ), was the body responsible for compiling the priorities and managing the commenting procedure.

The preparation of the priorities for the EU Presidency is a very long-term process. It involves not just representatives of the government and ministries, but also experts through their participation in professional groups. If these priorities are to be the right ones, they must not only be well-designed, they must also respond to current events in the world and in the EU itself.

In January 2009 the Czech Republic assumed the Presidency of the Council of the EU. The Presidency provides the Czech Republic with a unique opportunity to influence the agenda of the EU for six months. The task of the Czech Republic is to inspire and to moderate the debate among the 27 member states and to represent the EU externally

In a recent lecture for the United States Institute for Peace, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the world cannot afford to continue to rely on recycled Cold War thinking. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Czech politicians and media think in Cold War terms, and as a result Czech society does as well. The cancellation of -  or better said, the modification of - US plans for missile defense in Europe has revealed the inability of Czech political elites to liberate themselves from their fixation on the totalitarian experience, a fixation through which they continue to perceive and interpret current world events.