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Kraut -> 2 articles on that issue (11/19/2002 3:21:29 AM)
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First article:
The quest for jets
by Emir Halilovic
As new NATO members, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary don't have much to show for the last several years' efforts to build their air forces, except experience
This week, the U.S. jets patrolling Czech airspace during the NATO summit are intended to send a message of inviolability to would-be terrorists. But for the Czech Republic their presence is a nagging reminder of an uncomfortable fact: In the three years since the country joined NATO, the country's air force—like that of Hungary and, to a lesser extent, Poland—has gone downhill, and efforts to bolster air defense have yielded more controversy than progress.
Here's the rest:
http://www.pbj.cz/user/article.asp?ArticleID=164518
The second article:
Prague businesses brace for NATO
Summit could be chance to show off city's flood recovery, some say
By Marius Dragomir and Joel Kirkland
Hotel Union stands in the hot zone just below the Prague Congress Center on Ostrcilovo Namesti. Outside its wide front windows, protesters fought pitched battles against the police, overturned cars and smashed windows during the International Monetary Fund/World Bank meeting two years ago.
This week, the 57-room hotel braces for more of the same. NATO comes to town this week to ring in a new era and formally accept seven former communist countries into the Western security alliance (see special supplement, this issue). The bulk of the West's defense brass and 46 heads of state will meet at the Prague Congress Center Thursday and Friday.
The NATO summit is the first since Sept. 11 and since U.S. talk of war with Iraq began. Nearly 50 demonstrations are registered with state authorities, and many expect additional protests to break off and perhaps turn violent, as they did during the IMF meeting. The police expect 12,000 protesters, despite promises to cut off some at the border:
http://www.pbj.cz/user/article.asp?ArticleID=164519
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