Remarks by ex-president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, that Poland’s forthcoming elections should have outside invigilation in case they were fraudulent has met with an angry response from old friends in Warsaw and Gdansk.

Even for the present government's most fierce critics, such as Lech Walesa, Havel’s remarks went too far.

“ I am afraid Vaclav has got it totally wrong with time,' said Lech Welesa, a close friend of Havel’s during the 1980s and 1990s, when both were in the anti-communist opposition and later as presidents of their respective countries.

In an interview on Polish Radio, Bogdan Borusewicz, the speaker of the Senate and also Havel’s long-time friend, was very critical of these remarks.

‘It was a very unfortunate statement in the context of Poland’s international relations. A suggestion has been made that Poland is an undemocratic country.’

Havel told an audience Monday in Krakow that: ‘I have the impression that free elections should be conducted in Poland as soon as possible. I feel it would be in the interest of all Polish citizens if international observers were to be invited to the elections.’

It is thought that he was referring to accusations that the Polish ministry of justice has been using police, prosecutors and secret services to discredit political opponents.