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The Czech Republic's Chief State Prosecutor has called for a re-trial of Libor Novak. The former deputy chairman of the Civic Democratic Party has already stood trial on charges of tax evasion connected to the party's financing. Novak was acquitted last year, but the prosecutor claims that not all the witnesses had been heard and that not all the evidence had been considered. This is just one of many cases of suspicious financing of political parties in the Czech Republic and scandals have been linked to practically all of them. asked the vice-president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Vlasta Stepova, whether this situation was unique to the Czech Republic.

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For a few days last September the Czech capital was the focus of international media attention as world financiers gathered for the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank. Next year Prague will be hosting an international gathering that is arguably of far greater significance - in November 2002 nearly fifty heads of state will be gathering for one of the most important summits in the history of the NATO alliance. reports.