Reverting to old illusions

MOSCOW. (Berliner Zeitung commentator Frank Herold for RIA Novosti) - The situation is becoming serious. It seems that the government of the Czech Republic will not be dissuaded from agreeing to deploy elements of the U.S. National Missile Defense (NMD) System on Czech territory. The day after the Czech-U.S. agreement was signed, much less Russian crude oil started flowing to the country. The exporting company said the decrease was not politically motivated, citing "technical problems." However, the Czechs are looking in the direction of Lithuania, where oil supplies were unexpectedly stopped three years ago, although repairs were to have lasted just 60 days. Poland is still negotiating its contribution to the NMD system. Unlike Prague, Warsaw is trying to play it safe, and does not want missile defense plans to become... [read full story]