PM Topolanek says corruption allegations must be thoroughly investigated

On a working visit to Sweden, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said he expected a thorough investigation into corruption allegations surrounding the lease of Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets to the Czech Republic. Speaking to journalists in Stockholm, the Czech Prime Minister said he could not say how far the police investigation had progressed and he could not speed it up, but that everything was being done to get to the bottom of the affair. A scandal surrounding the lease of the fighter jets broke earlier this year when Swedish TV broadcast secret recordings of former Czech foreign minister Jan Kavan saying that Czech politicians took bribes linked to a deal to purchase Gripen supersonic jets from the British-Swedish consortium BAE Systems/Saab. Suspicions of corruption were further fanned by Mr Kavan's implication that a Czech police investigation could be influenced.