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A second opinion poll to be released this week has claimed that the ruling Social Democrats are slightly ahead of the opposition Civic Democrats as general elections in the Czech Republic approach. The survey, conducted by the state-funded Centre for Public Opinion Research (CVVM), put the ruling Social Democrats on almost 22 percent of the vote, and the Civic Democrats in second with just under 20 percent. The results echo a poll released on Wednesday by the Sofres-Factum agency. The narrow gap between the two leading parties suggests that neither will win an outright majority, meaning that the next government could be formed by a coalition.

Hundreds of Romanies from the Czech Republic and Slovakia have been applying for asylum in Sweden. In May, 74 Czech and 206 Slovak Roma asked for political asylum in the country, which is the same number as in the whole of 2001. None of the Czech and Slovak applicants were granted political asylum in Sweden either this or last year. Since January 111 Czech and 421 Slovak Roma have applied for asylum in Sweden. The majority of the Czech applicants are said to come from the north Moravian region of Ostrava. Swedish authorities say they think the attempts at mass-immigration from former Eastern Bloc countries are well organised.

The leader of the governing Social Democrats, Vladimir Spidla, said his party would not be prepared to form a coalition with the Communist Party or the Civic Democrats after the upcoming general elections. Speaking on a television debate programme with the leader of the Civic Democrats, Vaclav Klaus, Mr Spidla said he would consider forming a minority government if necessary. With the elections due to take place on June 14 and 15, opinion polls are putting the Social Democrats a few points behind the Civic Democrats.

President Vaclav Havel has expressed his disquiet over recent statements made by Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Labour and Social Affairs Minister Vladimir Spidla about the post-war expulsion of Czechoslovakia's ethnic German minority. Mr Havel said in an interview on the German television station ARD that while he was in favour of calm reflection on the issue, it was dangerous to inject passion into the debate. Mr Zeman recently said that Czechoslovakia's German minority had wanted to join the 'reich' and that is what they had done, while Mr Spidla said that the expulsion had been a source of peace in the post-war period.