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DE RUEHPG #0074/01 0370826
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O 060826Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0020
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 1941
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 000074 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MASS MARR EZ
SUBJECT: FIFTH VISIT OF STATUS OF FORCES NEGOTIATION TEAM 
TO PRAGUE 
 
REF: PRAGUE 37 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY AND COMMENT:  Ambassador Jackson McDonald 
and an interagency delegation met with representatives of the 
Czech Government in Prague to continue negotiations on a 
supplemental Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) on January 
27-30 and on the Ballistic Missile Defense Agreement on 
January 31.  Acting Under Secretary John Rood will continue 
the BMDA round on February 7 (septel).  The pace of the SOFA 
round was much slower than previous meetings, most likely due 
to significant differences of opinion on a few basic legal 
principles rather than a deliberate Czech attempt to slow 
negotiations because of external influences such as Poland. 
While progress was made on a few SOFA articles (most notably 
on taxation) and one article was finalized, the pace was 
further disrupted when the Czechs introduced new language to 
previously agreed text and significantly walked back 
agreed-upon language on environmental protection. 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY AND COMMENT CONTINUED:  The Czechs maintain 
their position that the SOFA be limited to the radar site and 
repeated their refrain that The Czech parliament would not 
ratify a broad-based SOFA.  They escalated this point during 
this round, saying they were not sure a broad SOFA would even 
pass government review.  As we expected, the Green Party 
appears to have punched above its weight during the Czech 
State Security Council meeting on January 17 which resulted 
in a hard line on Czech environmental protection language in 
both the SOFA and the BMD agreement.  Other areas of concern 
remaining include language demanding compliance with, versus 
respect for, Czech laws and procedures; criminal 
jurisdiction; construction permits; and claims.  The two 
sides agreed to hold a series of expert meetings to discuss 
difficult issues before the next formal round of SOFA 
negotiations in early March.  END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
CZECHS HOLD THE LINE 
------ ---- --- ---- 
¶3. (SBU) Ministry of Defense Director of Defense Policy and 
Strategy Ivan Dvorak wasted no time in outlining his updated 
negotiating mandate from the State Security Council.  In 
order for the government to accept the SOFA, it must have a 
clear linkage to the radar site.  This includes specific 
mention in the title and in the scope and purpose article. 
Invoking European Commission law, Dvorak said he had no 
flexibility on the new environmental language, in which the 
U.S. would be required to return the radar 
site to the Czechs in pristine natural condition, and that 
the agreement would not pass governmental (i.e. not just 
parliamentary) approval without it.  Ambassador McDonald 
stated that the U.S. could not accept the proposed text but 
offered to participate in a bilateral meeting of 
environmental experts in an attempt to craft mutually 
acceptable language. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Czechs maintained their inflexibility on the 
need for the U.S. to comply with Czech laws and regulations, 
as opposed to the U.S. position of respecting such laws and 
regulations.  This basic disagreement resurfaced throughout 
the draft agreement and was the focus of occasionally 
difficult negotiations, e.g., on building permits and 
construction procedures.  While the U.S. fully intends to 
respect the laws of the Czech Republic, the U.S. relies on 
the international legal precedent that sovereigns do not 
subordinate themselves by complying with the laws of other 
sovereigns.  In an attempt to overcome the Czechs' limited 
experience with this principle, Ambassador McDonald offered 
to provide a new construction text with commentary explaining 
U.S. legal reasoning behind the use of respect versus comply. 
 
ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK 
--- ---- -------- --- ----- ---- 
¶5. (SBU) Ambassador McDonald remarked early in negotiations 
that the Czech text first delivered January 23 and again 
presented during the negotiations substantially changed some 
articles we thought had been previously agreed, including the 
entire article on environment.  He also noted the substantive 
change in the Czech-provided working draft of the word "by" 
to "in" as it related to obtaining Czech construction 
permits.  Dvorak apologized for what he characterized as this 
inadvertent typo, but went on to describe the importance of 
this change as it related to U.S. compliance with Czech law. 
Ambassador McDonald made it clear he would have to report to 
Washington that negotiations had regressed since the last 
round in 
 
PRAGUE 00000074  002 OF 002 
 
 
December.  Dvorak was surprised by this exchange, saying 
there was no regression and the new text was provided to 
clarify the issues.  Despite this claim, he then repeated the 
Czech redline that the SOFA be specifically tied to the radar 
site. 
 
GENERAL O'REILLY WELL-RECEIVED 
------- -------- ------------- 
¶6. (SBU) Missile Defense Agency Deputy Director Major General 
Patrick O'Reilly gave a briefing on January 28 to an audience 
of senior MFA and MoD policymakers on ballistic missile 
defense execution plans and the proposed radar's integration 
with a future NATO missile defense system.  The General's 
briefing was well-received and was the first time many 
present had heard about the proposed radar's planned 
integration with NATO and how it has the potential to 
increase the effectiveness of existing short and medium-range 
missile defense systems.  Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar 
raised the question of ballistic missile defense priorities 
when he asked how the system would function if missiles were 
heading to both Prague and Rome and only one interceptor 
remained.  MG O'Reilly noted the system's response depends on 
the execution plan and explained in detail how execution 
plans are developed, tested, and wargamed.  He said that 
those countries participating in the U.S. ballistic missile 
defense system would have a seat at the table during the 
development of the execution plans, which reassured the 
Czechs. 
 
LABOR EXPERTS WORK 
----- ------- ---- 
¶7. (SBU) In parallel with the SOFA negotiations, Deputy Under 
Secretary of Defense Patricia Bradshaw and a team of labor 
 
SIPDIS 
experts exchanged information with their Czech counterparts 
and developed a series of non-papers of possible language for 
use by the negotiating teams.  This model of cooperation 
worked extremely well, and both sides made significant 
progress in understanding the relevant laws, positions, and 
complexities involved in the SOFA labor article. 
 
NEXT STEPS 
---- ----- 
¶8. (SBU) McDonald and Dvorak agreed that many of the issues 
remaining are complicated and that drafting language for some 
of these issues at the table is nearly impossible.  McDonald 
offered, and Dvorak accepted, a series of expert meetings 
using the labor discussions as a model.  The parties will 
work with the Embassy to schedule expert discussions on 
taxes, criminal jurisdiction, and the environment before the 
next round of negotiations. 
 
¶9. (SBU) This cable was cleared by Ambassador McDonald. 
Graber