Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek begged off a scheduled White House visit with President Bush, because Topolanek has to deal with political problems arising from a regional election, and he needs to push the Czech Parliament to endorse the planned European Missile Defense (EMD) radar to be installed on Czech territory.

Topolanek had planned to meet with Bush last week to discuss EMD and other issues, until problems at home forced him to forego the trip, according to European news reports.

It is critical that the Czech Parliament approves the radar installation, in an imminent vote that could come as early as this week, and that the Polish Parliament approves installation of EMD interceptors in ground silos on Polish territory, because the U.S. Congress won’t release funds for construction work on the EMD until those approvals are in hand.

Topolanek needs to round up more votes to gain approval of the EMD deal in the lower house of the Czech Parliament.

The EMD system would shield Europe and the United States against enemy missiles fired from the Middle East, including Iran.

Meanwhile, Iran is moving rapidly to develop nuclear materials, and also possesses missiles capable of striking Israel, with plans to develop technology that could yield intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking U.S. cities. (Please see separate stories in this issue.)

Some Democratic members of Congress have blocked funding for the EMD, even as Bush was asking Europeans to support it. Congress said NATO approval should be obtained first. Later, it was.

Congress said the Czech and Polish governments should approve it, and later they did.

Congress also demanded that the Czech and Polish parliaments back the missile defense deal, and there is a drive to obtain those approvals, while Bush still is in office. He steps down in January.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee, is thought to favor missile defense in general, including the EMD, while some critics say Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic hopeful, would drop the EMD and other missile defense programs to free up funds for other uses.

Also, Congress has demanded that the interceptors to be installed in Poland first undergo testing, even though they are but a modified version of interceptors already installed in the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system in Alaska and California. Those tests might consume two years, while Bush notes Iran will be developing greater strike capabilities.

The Boeing Co. [BA] is the prime contractor for GMD and EMD.