CCCCC AA RRRRR OOOO LL II NN N AA CC AA A RR R OO O LL II NNN N AA A CC AA A RRRRR OO O LL II NN N N AA A CC AAAAAA RR R OO O LL II NN NN AAAAAA CCCCC AA A RR R OOOO LLLLLL II NN N AA A STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC School of Social Sciences of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic E-mail address: carolina@n.fsv.cuni.cs Fax: (+422) 231 7391 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 64, Friday, February 26, 1993. FROM LAST WEEK'S EVENTS (February 17 - 24) President Havel's First Speech At The Czech Parliament On Tuesday, President Vaclav Havel gave an about forty-minute speech at the House of Deputies of the Czech Parliament. He said that in many people, the loss of the old and the absence of the new generates a feeling of vacuum, of being adrift and frustrated. He named the most familiar manifestations of the condition when, after the collapse of the value system of the totalitarian state, the value system of the civic society has not yet matured; they are: rapid increase of criminality and organized violence, intolerance, racism, antisemitism and xenophobia. There are manifestations he considers even more dangerous: irritability, atmosphere of distrust, deepening cynicism, demagogy and vulgarity. "This may well be a kind of tax we pay for an orderly division of the state," he added. This nervosity is aggravated by the fact that during the recent three years we could not come to terms with the past. He addressed Czech foreign politics, suggesting that it should follow Czechoslovak post-November politics in the sense that "we are no petitioners but rather partners who also have something to offer." V. Havel stated that the President should be, "above all, an intermediary of continuity of the state power, especially in situations when political power changes hands, or in political crises, hence a certain safeguard of political stability". Before this speech, Vaclav Havel took part in a session of the political core of the Parliament, where he spoke in favor of a speedy decision on the validity of the screening law (whether it holds in the form approved by the former Federal Assembly, or the finding of the Constitutional Court of CSFR prevails, which dropped those legislative measures which do not fully demonstrate collaboration with the former State Security). He also urged the establishment of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, and the adoption of a law concerning the Office of the President. The only political party whose representatives did not attend the session of the political core was the Republican Party. The deputies for the Association for the Republic - Republican Party of Czechoslovakia (SPR-RSC) were the only ones who disagreed in advance with the presence of the head of the state at the session of the political core, and also walked out of the house during President's speech. Vaclav Klaus In Bratislava It is in the interests of the Czech republic to have a neighbor to the East with a functioning democratic system and prosperous economics, a neighbor who knows that cooperation is better than confrontation, said the Czech Premier Vaclav Klaus on his first official visit of the Slovak Republic. It took place on Monday, February 22, in Bratislava. The centerpiece of the long-term cooperation, according to Vaclav Klaus, should remain the customs union treaty. Among problems yet to be solved he mentioned the completion of the division of federal property and securing the protection of the common border. As far as the property is concerned, it is necessary to divide the assets and liabilities of the former State Bank of Czechoslovakia, the property of major corporations, such as Transgas and Cedok (a travel agency), and of voucher privatization. The Premier of SR Meciar characterized speculations about the devaluation of the Slovak crown as a "psychological game". The difficulties with foreign currency reserves and foreign trade balance of the state should be resolved by introducing import surtax from which merchandise originating in CR would be exempted. V. Meciar stated this after talks with the Premier of CR Vaclav Klaus. Vaclav Klaus responded with a declaration that the Czech party had not been informed about the preparations of the Slovak government to introduce import surtax, and stressed that he would strive for maximum freedom of movement of persons and goods over the common border. Jan Strasky Most Popular For the first time, the last Federal Premier and present Minister of Transportation in Klaus's cabinet Jan Strasky climbed to the top of the popularity ladder. He is trusted by 71 percent of the citizens. According to the Institute for public opinion polls, the results of whose poll were published by the media on Wednesday, February 23, his first place is connected with discussions in January about his running for President. Second place is occupied by Vaclav Havel (67%), third is Minister of Industry and Trade Vladimir Dlouhy (62). The fourth, Vaclav Klaus, is trusted by 62 percent of respondents, and the fifth, Jan Kalvoda, by 57%. Among the representatives of the present power elite, 6th place was taken by Jiri Dienstbier, the former Czechoslovak Foreign Minister and the present chairman of the Civic Movement (which was unsuccessful in the recent parliamentary elections). He is followed by Finance Minister Ivan Kocarnik (54%), the Speaker of the House of Deputies Milan Uhde (41%), Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec (38%). (After consultations with experts on the Czech language, we would like to publish the correct form of the instrumental case of his name: it should be written Zieleniecem. Our apologies.) The top ten list of most popular people is completed by the Minister of Agriculture and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union / Czechoslovak People's Party Josef Lux (36%). Among these ten most trustworthy people, he is the only one who is distrusted by more people than trusted (42% against, compared with 36% in favor). Consultations Of IMF With Slovak Government Could Resume In March Quoting the Czech Press Bureau, Wednesday press brings the information that the consultations of the International Monetary Fund with the Slovak government, which were suddenly adjourned on Saturday, could resume next month. According to an agency source from the Slovak Ministry of Finance, the delegation of IMF had a clear idea how to stabilize the Slovak currency and economy, and proposed, among others, floating exchange rate of the Slovak crown. To Slovak representatives, the prospective gain from the fulfillment od the demanding measures seemed to be too low, unconvincing and uncertain. According to the same source, Slovakia does not feel to be a "banana republic". The Reuter agency, quoting a Western diplomat, wrote on Saturday that disagreement had apparently arisen between the two parties concerning the devaluation of the Slovak currency. Discovery Of Black Market Arsenals On Wednesday, February 17, about 1,600 submachine guns were discovered by the criminal police in two Prague warehouses. The impounded weapons are the property of firms Efrata and Real. Their owners were charged on Monday with illegal possession of arms and unauthorized enterprise, and were arrested on Tuesday. Both have already been prosecuted for crimes in the past. The third accused is an army employee, who is under reasonable suspicion of providing the firms with the weapons. They originate from the arsenals of the former Svazarm (Association for Cooperation with the Army). On Friday, February 19, 1,100 more submachine guns were found in an Ostrava warehouse of a branch of the former cooperative Lovena (hunting arms dealership). These were intended, according to the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior Jan Subert, to be sold illegally abroad. Most of these so far found submachine guns SA-58 (Kalasnikov) would be, according to the police, capable of firing after adjustments. The mandatory measures to render them inoperative were not made in all weapons, as J. Subert said. Handling such weapons is against the law, and so was their possession. More weapons are supposed to be located in Nitra. In connection with this, Slovak police officers visited Prague. According to the police investigator Venzl, the present market price of one new submachine gun can be figured at up to 30 thousand crowns, while the price of one re- conditioned weapon could range from 10,000 to 15,000. This is a hot topic of these days. Especially television devotes, as a rule, first minutes of its major newscasts. As it gradually turned out later, it was not as much of a stroke of police genius as it had been presented during the first days. Aid To Bosnia The week of aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina runs from February 22 to 28 across all of the Czech Republic. It is organized by the Helsinki Civic Assembly and other charitable organizations. Television, public and private radio stations, newspapers and magazines continually appeal to the citizens for help. During the first half of the week, the Czech Catholic Charity amassed clothes, shoes, kitchenware, mattresses, blankets in the Vrsovice train station. Each day, up to four wagons were loaded. There is a joint bank account to which Prague as well as off-Prague theaters contributed with the proceeds of one performance, exhibition galleries sent their one-day revenues, and to the Trade Bank (Zivnobanka) account, money is sent by both individuals and companies. These funds will be used to purchase medications and bandages. A convoy, accompanied by journalists from Lidove noviny (People's Paper) and Mlada fronta Dnes (Youth Front Today) will go to Zenica and Gorazde. The journalists want to be safeguards for the help reaching its intended destination. Vaclav Havel Appointed The State Defense Council Premier V. Klaus became the chairman of the State Defense Council, Finance Minister I. Kocarnik is the vice-chairman, and other members are Foreign Affairs Minister J. Zieleniec, Defense Minister A. Baudys, Interior Minister J. Ruml, Economics Minister K. Dyba, Industry and Trade Minister V. Dlouhy, Environment Minister F. Benda and the Director of the Division of Defense and Security at the Government Office, Lt. Col. J. Taborsky. The State Defense Council was appointed by the president on Wednesday, February 17. Ivan Medek Becomes Divisional Director Of The President's Office The offer by Vaclav Havel to become the Director of the Internal Politics Division of the President's Office was accepted by a music critic Ivan Medek. In 1977, he was one of the signatories of the Charter 77, in August 1978 he emigrated to Austria where he collaborated with the radio stations Free Europe and Voice of America. Change Of Citizenship More Difficult Starting Monday, February 22, Slovak citizens who opt for CR citizenship must apply for a release from the SR citizenship. They will be conferred CR citizenship, provided they meet the following conditions - two years of uninterrupted residence on the CR territory, and a clean criminal record for the most recent five years - for intentional crimes. According to the head of the department of citizenship and records of the Interior Ministry, K. Guliskinova, about 34 thousand Slovak citizens have applied for CR citizenship to date. Romany Means Human Being A seminar on ethnic and race problems was organized by the Group for Human Rights at the Helsinki Civic Association (HCA), and by the Heinrich Boll Endowment on February 19 at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University (abbrev. UK) in Prague. Contributors were Vaclav Trojan for HCA, Josef Banon for the Romany Democratic Association, Doc. Jirina Siklova from the Faculty of Philosophy of UK, Dr. Vlado Olah, the chairman of the Romany Fund, a former deputy Ing. Karel Holomek for the Society of Romanys in Moravia, Gejza Demeter, the editor of the magazine Gendalos, literary critic and a member of the Tolerance Endowment Josef Vohryzek, Dr. Chalupova from the President's office, and others. The discussion was concerned with the catastrophic condition of the Romany population in the north of Bohemia where the problems left behind by the Second World War, the Communist policies of the past 40 years are compounding and deepening by the present political transformation: the development of heavy industry and construction of power stations running on low-grade coal without regard for the land, living environment and those who work there. Migration of people who came just to earn money, social insecurity, unbearable living conditions, unsuitable composition of the population - the highly educated people, if they could, left the region. Romany, who were transported to Northern Bohemia as unqualified hired laborers, find themselves on the margin of the society also because they have the lowest level of education. Children who, instead of the Romany language, have to learn Czech in grade 1, run into problems and are routinely relocated to special schools. There is a desperate shortage of highly educated Romanys. The unemployment rate among Romanys exceeds 50% in some areas. Illegal by-laws of local authorities, directed against Romany, testify about the deterioration of state authority. Attempts to discriminate against Romanys even showed up in the legislative process of the newly established republic, e.g., in the citizenship act. Many participants in the discussion spoke about racism against which there is less resistance on the part of the population and police than, for example, in neighboring Germany. The solution leading to co- existence of the Romany ethnicity and the Czech majority requires a lot of time, and the Romany community has to participate in it. The issues are the conception of schools and education in general, counseling, and help in job finding. Here is an open opportunity for volunteer organizations and associations. The main safeguards for respecting the human rights and the law must come from the government and the parliament. Unemployment The number of unemployed in CR rose from 134,788 at the end of the last December to 158,113 at January 31 this year. According to the statement by the deputy director of the division for employment policy at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs V. Skalny, the prognosis of this year's unemployment rate is 5 to 6 percent. CR Has Foreign Trade Deficit The foreign trade balance of CR for 1992 is, according to the data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, passive and makes 664 million dollars (US). The total volume of foreign trade increased in 1992 in comparison with the previous year by 13.1 percent. Oscar Nomination The Czech director Michaela Pavlatova was nominated for the American Film Academy Award in the category of animated film for her seven-minute film Chatter, Chatter, Chatter (Reci, reci, reci). EXCHANGE RATES OF THE CZECH CROWN purchase sale FRG 1 DEM 17.29 18.21 USA 1 USD 28.17 29.57 UK 1 GBP 40.41 43.55 Austria 1 ATS 2.46 2.58 France 1 FRF 5.07 5.39 Canada 1 CAD 22.05 23.61 The rates are as of February 24. SPORTS Ice Hockey The last round of the superstructure part of the federal hockey league has decided the fate of another team which drops out of further competition for the title. After Plzen, it is Bratislava's Slovan which lost at Vitkovice 4:9. Until recently, the next-to-the-last Pardubice team also lost (2:3 with Kladno) but its survival was decided by a better balance from matches with Slovan. The fifth and twelfth place teams played the first round of the play-off with the following results: Ceske Budejovice - Pardubice 1:2, Zlin - Jihlava 4:1, Kladno - Poprad 6:2 and Kosice - Olomouc 5:0. The teams which placed first to fourth, that is, Litvinov, Sparta Praha, Trencin and Vitkovice, will later fight against the winners of these duels. Soccer After the winter break, the still federal soccer league resumed its activity. The most interesting match of the round, between the players of the capitals of both new republics, the home team of Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Praha. The other Prague team - Bohemians - sank to the last place after losing 1:2 to the second-place Dunajska Streda. The leader of the chart is still Sparta Praha. WEATHER This winter's variable weather caused another snowfall in many places of our republic, and the temperatures do not exceed zero even during daytime. The inversion-related fogs and smog have definitively dispersed, and the air is relatively clean even in cities. Skiing conditions are good only in a few mountain resorts. translation: KOVARIK@sscvax.cis.ncmaster.ca ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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