US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Prague Tuesday to sign a missile defence deal opposed by Moscow and to warn Russia to stop allegedly stoking separatist tensions in Georgia.
Beginning a three-country European tour that will also take her to Georgia, Rice arrived to a backdrop of protesters who objected to the Czech government's decision to accept the siting of the US anti-missile radar system there.
"We have said both Georgia and Russia need to avoid provocative behaviour but frankly some of the things the Russians did over the last couple of months added to tension in the region," Rice said, citing Russia's failure to consult with Georgia over a presidential order offering Abkhazia direct relations with Russia.
"Georgia is an independent state. It has to be treated like one," she added.
Latent tensions between Tbilisi and Moscow over the separatist regions of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia have flared up over the last week.
"I want to make very clear that the US commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity is strong," the Secretary of State said.
Rice is due in Georgia late Wednesday as part of her three-country mini-tour, which will also take in Bulgaria.
In Tblisi, she will renew US support for Georgia's bid for NATO membership -- another bone of contention with Moscow -- and try to calm tensions over Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Georgia regularly accuses Russia of seeking to annex South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and derail its efforts to join the NATO military alliance. Russia in turn accuses Tbilisi of preparing to take back the breakaway regions by force.
Rice said she would not be visiting Poland, where the US wants to install missile interceptors. The two countries have been unable to agree terms for the deal after 14 months of talks.
"There are remaining issues but the United States has made a very generous offer" to the Poles who want to improve their air defences, Rice said.
In Prague however, she will sign the agreement over siting a US missile defence radar system in the former Soviet-bloc country, a development that Moscow has fiercely opposed.
The United States wants to deploy the shield in the central European nations by 2011-2013 to ward off potential attacks by so-called "rogue" states such as Iran. Russia has denounced the plan as a threat to its own security.
NATO endorsed the US plan at its April summit in the Romanian capital Bucharest.
Concerning Russian anxiety about the anti-missile system in what used to be its backyard, Rice said Tuesday: "We want the system to be transparent to the Russians."
The US has in the past suggested that Russian inspectors could visit the anti-missile sites as long as Prague and Warsaw agreed.
Prague has objected to a permanent Russian presence for monitoring the radar's operations, which is what Moscow is seeking.
In Prague, protestors from Greenpeace unrolled a massive image of a target across the city's skyline Tuesday ahead Rice's arrival.
"Do not make a target of us," proclaimed the banner at Letna hill overlooking the Czech capital at the foot of a giant metronome erected by the artist Vratislav Novak in 1991 following the collapse of the communist regime.
Anti-rader actions have stepped up in recent months with a hunger strike by anti-base activists, occupation of the military site earmarked for the radar by Greenpeace members and demonstrations.
Polls regularly show around two-thirds of Czech opposed to hosting the US radar. A survey by the CVVM agency published this month showed 68 percent opposed to the US radar.
