Embattled minister Čunek says corruption matter now closed

Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Christian Democratic Party Jiří Čunek stated Tuesday that he considers the entire matter of his alleged corruption as being closed. The statement came after a meeting with Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and follows an audit of Mr Čunek’s accounts paid for by Foreign Minister Karel Shwarzenberg. The audit came as allegations of alleged bribe taking by Mr Čunek led to increasing calls for his resignation – the matter was also investigated by police but was subsequently dropped for lack of evidence. Mr Shwarzenberg had threatened to resign if a privately funded audit revealed improprieties in Mr Čunek’s business affairs. The audit has not shown any proof of bribe-taking, although it did open up several new questions over Mr Čunek’s apparently lucrative history of lobbying.