Havel attacks Czech political standards

Just 10 days before elections in the Czech Republic, the President, Vaclav Havel, has launched a blistering attack on its political standards.

The former dissident and playwright told the BBC that Czech politics was antagonistic and furtive, and that ordinary people were alienated, if not disgusted, by the behaviour of politicians.

Mr Havel, who is due to retire from politics at the start of next year, also voiced concern that his successor would be chosen as a result of backroom post-election horse-trading.

The President highlighted a campaign being run by the pornographic magazine Hustler as symptomatic of the sorry state of Czech political life. He noted that when Hustler offered a large cash prize to anyone who could provide details of corrupt politicians, its switchboards were jammed.

Mr Havel, who has become increasingly outspoken as he approaches retirement, said attempts by politicians to "kick each other in the ankles" had sickened ordinary Czechs.

He also pointed to a row with Berlin over the expulsion of those who sided with Germany in the Second World War, saying that years spent building foreign relations had been ruined by politicians who could not control their tongues.

His comments came as he prepared to welcome the German President, Johannes Rau, to Prague in an attempt to mend fences.

Asked yesterday about the Czech elections, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Günter Verheugen, defended the ability of the Czech political system to produce a democratic government and said: "There is no government possible that would turn the country away from European integration."