The Czech prime minister has endorsed a revised US missile defence plan after a meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden in Prague.

Jan Fischer says his country is ready to participate in the new plan, which focuses on short and medium range interceptors. Bush-era plans for a long-range missile defence shield in eastern Europe have been abandoned by the Obama administration. Biden said: “A high-level defence team will come to Prague in early November to discuss this, as well as defence cooperation in a range of areas. The new missile programme is designed to meet existing threats in Europe.” Poland and Romania have cautiously welcomed the new scheme. The plan envisages the deployment first of sea-based interceptors and then of land-based systems. Under the arrangement, Poland could host SM-3 interceptors targeting short and medium-range missiles. Czech participation may depend in part on the next government to be formed after the mid 2010 election.More about: Czech Republic, USA

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