The freshly installed minister of defence, Karolína Peake, says Prime
Minister Petr Nečas reacted angrily to her dismissal of a number of senior
Defence Ministry officials. Minister Peake told Czech Television that Mr.
Nečas, who was in Brussels, had raised his voice during a phone
conversation on Thursday. For his part, Mr. Nečas said she had no place
making public their conversation. Among those the minister removed on her
first full day in office was her first deputy, General Vlastimil Picek, a
former chief of staff of the Czech Army. She said she believed top
positions at the ministry should be filled by civilians. On Friday the
opposition Social Democrats called for her resignation in a lower house
debate.