The United States is stepping up the pace to deploy its missile defense system in Eastern Europe as Washington started the first round of negotiations with the Czech government on establishing a radar station in the East European country Thursday.

The two-day vice ministerial-level talks focus on the political,legal and technical issues surrounding the setup of the radar station and the size and choice of the site of the base, Czech media reported.

The talks come amid strong reactions in the Czech republic, Poland and Russia.

The latest opinion polls showed that about 60 percent of Czech citizens oppose establishing a U.S. radar station in the Czech republic amid fears the U.S. move could threaten local security and interests. In the event of a military conflict, they say, the base would be the first to be targeted.

Meanwhile, 73 percent of Czechs hold the view that the matter should be put to a referendum.

Though the majority of the Czechs say "no" to the U.S. move, the Czech government has reacted positively.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said the decision on the setup of the U.S. radar base should be made by politicians, and not through a referendum.

The radar base will not only reinforce national security of the Czech Republic, but also lead to investment in education and science and technology in the republic, he asserted.

According to some Czech media reports, Prague is giving the green light to Washington in return for strengthened security guarantees by the United States, an increase in U.S. investment, cooperation with the United States on the Czech military's modernization, and an exchange of anti-terrorism information with the United States.

In Poland, opinion polls show that nearly 50 percent Poles support the anti-missile system in their country, and 32 percent reject the U.S. effort.

Warsaw hopes that the U.S. anti-missile base would serve as a national security guarantee for Poland, saying that the setup of the base and related measures would strengthen the security of Poland, the United States and the international community.

But in Russia, the U.S. plan to set up an anti-missile base in Eastern Europe has met strong opposition.

The United States suggested earlier this year that the missile shield be deployed in Eastern Europe, featuring interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic. The operation is expected to start in 2011.

Russia has repeatedly criticized the U.S. proposal, saying that it will harm the regional security situation. The United States has insisted that it will only target an alleged possible missile threat from Iran or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

At a late-April meeting with Czech President Vaclav Klaus in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a U.S. deployment of an anti-missile system in Europe would threaten the territorial security of Russia's European area if Russia was blind to the issue.

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has already warned of "the negative effects" the anti-missile base would inflict on the whole Europe-Atlantic security system if it was installed in Poland.

In response, Washington promised earlier this month to hold top-level meetings to resolve the escalating dispute over the issue.

"We have agreed to a Russian suggestion that the secretaries of defense and state meet with their Russian counterparts and do so in a so-called 2+2 format," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried told reporters on May 4.

Fried said the first meeting was tentatively planned for around September, possibly with the participation of the two governments' national security advisers.

The U.S. government has mulled the plan to establish a new anti-missile base in Europe for several years.

If the plan was put into force, analysts say, the Czech Republic and Poland would become America's biggest missile defense system bases overseas, and also a key component of the U.S. global missile defense system.

The deployment of a U.S. missile defense system at the gate of Russia would also make significant changes to the current Russia-U.S. military balance in Europe and the East-West equilibrium in conventional weapons, according to analysts.