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Vietnamese citizens have asked to be allowed to remain in the Czech Republic if they lose their jobs. At a meeting with Interior Ministry officials, leaders of the Vietnamese community said they were capable of supporting one another in the event of being laid off, arguing that possible deportation was too heavy-handed a measure on the part of the Czech authorities. The Vietnamese leaders said their compatriots would prefer to stay in the Czech Republic and do community service, for instance.

The Czech government recently launched a scheme to give laid-off workers from non-EU states EUR 500 and a ticket home. So far around 550 people – most of them from Mongolia – have signed up for the programme, which is open to 2,000 foreigners in its first phase. Only 20 or 25 people from Vietnam have taken up the offer.

The Czech police have deported 12 people after checking the papers of 4,300 foreigners in operations in a number of cities on Tuesday. They registered nearly 300 contraventions of the country’s law on foreigners and levied fines of nearly CZK 200,000, a spokesperson said. Police also handed out flyers with information about the government’s voluntary repatriation scheme.

The leaders of the Civic Democrats and the Greens have agreed to a proposal from the other party in the governing coalition the Christian Democrats to push for a reduction in the number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies from 200 to 199. The chairmen of the three parties are set to continue discussions on other possible changes to the Czech Republic’s electoral law.

US President Barack Obama says he wants to work with Russia to resolve a nuclear stand-off with Iran, but has denied reports he offered to slow deployment of a missile defence shield in exchange for Moscow’s help. Washington has signed deals with Prague on basing part of the defence system, a radar base, in central Bohemia, though the Czech Parliament has not yet voted on the matter. The New York Times reported this week that Mr Obama had sent a letter to Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, suggesting he would pull back from deploying the missile shield if Russia helped stop Iran from developing long-range weapons. Speaking on Tuesday, however, the US president said the letter simply reiterated statements he had made saying the defence system was directed towards Iran, not Russia. Mr Obama said obviously if Iran’s commitment to nuclear weapons was lessened there would be less pressure for or need for a missile defence shield.

The Czech foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, said on Wednesday that nothing had changed regarding plans to build a US radar on Czech territory. He said if Iran gave up its nuclear ambitions the whole situation would change and the missile defence system could be discussed again.

The Czech government has invested considerable political capital in backing the US radar base, which opinion polls have consistently suggested most Czechs are opposed to.