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The Czech Republic has sharply criticized Belarus for manipulating a referendum that gives President Lukashenko the possibility of ruling indefinitely. It was a victory achieved by crude manipulation of both public opinion and the referendum results, a Czech foreign ministry statement says, noting that Lukashenko's regime had again missed an opportunity to improve relations with the democratic world. The Foreign Ministry said it would continue to provide support for Belarusian democratic forces.

President Klaus has called on the Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan to consider sacking Police President Jiri Kolar for his recent statements concerning phone tapping by the police. In connection with the investigation of an alleged bribery case in which the police tapped the phone of at least one high placed politician, the police president noted that tapping of private phone conversations is a normal police practice which does not breech citizens rights and should not bother them as long as they are innocent. President Klaus said he was shocked by the fact that the Police President should disregard a fundamental freedom guaranteed by the Constitution and expressed the view that he should not be allowed to remain in office.

The Czech and Danish prime ministers have said that if Turkey fulfils EU criteria it should be admitted to the European Union. During talks in Prague on Friday, the visiting Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he expected the December EU summit would give the start of accession talks with Turkey the green light. However the start of accession talks does not automatically imply admission at the end of the road, the Danish Prime Minister said, noting that Turkey would be under close scrutiny in meeting EU norms.

The senior opposition Civic Democratic Party wants to call an extraordinary session of the lower house of parliament after police disclosed they had been monitoring the phone calls and bank accounts of the party's head, Mirek Topolanek. The party wants to establish an investigative committee in parliament and Mr Topolanek himself asked the Justice and Interior Ministers to explain the police activities. Police say they have transcripts of Mr Topolanek's phone calls recorded during the investigation of a recent alleged bribery case. But it is not clear whether the police were monitoring Mr Topolanek's phone or the phones of the two suspects in the case, Mr Topolanek's assistant, Marek Dalik, and lobbyist Jan Vecerek.