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Moscow has offered Washington an unexpected olive branch on US missile defence, on Wednesday backing out of plans to deploy short-range missiles in Kaliningrad. The threat that it would do so was made in response to planned US missile defence systems in the Czech Republic and Poland, but Russia has apparently suspended the idea in favour of a more constructive dialogue with the US. Prague was quick to welcome the move.

Czech President Václav Klaus met with Albanian head of state Baremir Topi in Prague on Saturday. Mr Topi, who is privately visiting the Czech Republic, discussed with his Czech counterpart Albania’s prospects of joining the European Union and NATO. President Klaus signed Albanian NATO accession protocol on Monday, completing the ratification process of Czech approval with the Albanian membership in NATO.

The failure to approve Czech participation in foreign missions in 2009 is a breach of the country’s commitment to NATO, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has said. Speaking to the journalists after a meeting of the board of the Civic Democrats, Mr Topolánek said that by giving up its fight against terrorism in Afghanistan, the Czech Republic threatens its safety. He also added that it was Jiří Paroubek, the leader of the opposition Social Democrats, who was personally responsible for endangering lives of Czech soldiers abroad.

The government has approved maintaining Czech forces abroad over the period of next two months. The decision was made at an emergency session on Friday, after the lower house of Parliament rejected a proposal on the deployment of Czech troops in foreign missions in 2009. The proposal drafted by the Czech Defense Ministry envisaged reinforcing the country’s military presence in Afghanistan and maintaining 550 servicemen in Kosovo. Although Prime Minister Topolánek offered a number of concessions, the opposition overturned the proposal with the aid of a number of independents. Under the Czech law, the government has the right to maintain Czech forces abroad for a period of 60 days.

NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday affirmed their support for US plans to install anti-missile defenses in central Europe saying that the deployment of a tracking radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in neighbouring Poland would make a "substantial contribution" to protecting Europe from the threat of long-range ballistic missiles. Despite the clear implication that the US missile defense components would be incorporated into European defense structures, the statement has left critics in the Czech Republic unconvinced.

A new poll conducted by Augur Consulting has suggested that 70 percent of Czechs are in favour of the Czech Republic’s membership in NATO. 53 percent of those polled thought the country’s soldiers should serve only in Europe (as opposed to difficult areas further abroad). Currently the Czech Republic has soldiers, for example, serving in reconstruction and military missions in Afghanistan. The survey, which relied on 980 respondents, also suggests that a higher number of Czechs favour their military being involved in peacekeeping rather than combat missions. The poll was commissioned by the Defence Ministry.

Meanwhile, NATO reaffirmed on Monday its backing for a planned U.S. missile shield in Europe after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it would bring no extra security on the continent. NATO leaders including Sarkozy welcomed U.S. plans to deploy the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic as a "substantial contribution to the protection of allies" at a summit in Bucharest last April. But after talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday, Sarkozy said that deploying the U.S. anti-missile system would do "nothing to bring security and complicates things". Mr. Sarkozy said he had won Russian backing for talks on security in Europe next year and urged a freeze in missile deployments by Moscow and the United States until then. His remarks were immediately questioned by Czech politicians who said Mr. Sarkozy had no mandate for his remarks.

Prague witnessed its first major military parade since 1985 on Tuesday, to mark the 90th anniversary of the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918. Czechoslovakia weathered many storms before finally splitting into two countries in 1993, but the anniversary is still celebrated here in the Czech Republic, although not in Slovakia. The idea to hold a large-scale military parade attracted criticism in some quarters, but seems to have been positively received by the public.

Plans by the government to increase the number of Czech soldiers in Afghanistan next year have come under fire from the opposition benches. At the weekend, both the Communists and the Social Democrats said they would not back the proposal under any circumstances.

NATO Days, an air show featuring military aircraft and vehicles from nine countries, took place at the international Leoš Janáček Airport in Ostrava, north Moravia, on Saturday. The show presented one of the world’s largest aircraft, Ukraine’s Antonov A-124 Ruslan, as well as the Eurofighter, the British early warning planes AWACS and the Spanish acrobats Patrulla Aquila. Around 40,000 people attended the air show.