Prime Minister to take action against papers over flat allegations

Prime Minister Stanislav Gross has said he will take legal action against Mlada fronta Dnes and Respekt, two newspapers which have questioned how he bought his luxury Prague flat. Mr Gross said in the lower house on Tuesday that what he called the campaign against him in the Czech media was damaging the credibility of the Czech Republic.

For their part, his critics say the prime minister's alleged failure to explain how he bought a flat for more than he had officially earned is tarnishing the country's reputation.

A move by the opposition Civic Democrats to raise the matter in the lower house was defeated.