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) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 97, Friday, December 3, 1993. NEWS OF THE PAST WEEK (25.11 - 2.12) Milan Uhde Rejects German Parliament Head's Invitation Czech Parliament Speaker Milan Uhde rejected Tuesday an invitation from his German counterpart Rita Suessmuth for their parliaments to discuss compensation for Czech victims of Nazism and issues of the Sudeten Germans. Following the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II, 3.2 million ethnic Germans, known as Sudeten, were expelled from the country at the end of the war. During his visit to Germany, Uhde said questions concerning Sudeten Germans are "subjects for private discussions" and not a subject for discussion among politicians or members of parliament. According to Czech presidential Spokesman Ladislav Spacek, President Vaclav Havel is not going to express any opinion on the matter between Uhde and Sussmuth, in order not to interfere in parliamentary matters. By telephone, Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus thanked Uhde for his "clear and penetrating presentation, so necessary on German soil." Civic Democratic Party Holds Fourth Congress During Weekend Vaclav Klaus was re-elected chairman of the ruling Civic Democratic Party at the party's fourth national congress on the weekend in Koprivnice. The 268 delegates kept the leadership structure intact, also re-electing Peter Cermak as first vice-chairman, and Josef Zieleniec, Jan Strasky and Jiri Vlach as vice-chairman. In the executive council of the party are Bohdan Dvorak, a former vice- chairman, and Miroslav Macek, who disappeared from the political scene after scandals last year. According to reports in the Czech press, the voting wasn't without problems. In the first round, voting was annulled because the number of ballots exceeded the number of delegates eligible to vote. Cermak, who failed to win confirmation on the first ballot by a vote of 135-126, succeeded on the second ballot. Congress also adopted two party stands. It supported Klaus in his position that new administrative districts need not be drawn by the time of local elections in 1994. The Congress also suggested revoking the titles of Doctor of Political Science, which was given to graduates of the Communist Party's Political University. Bill Clinton Will Come to Prague Czech President Vaclav Havel and his office are starting preparations for U.S. President Bill Clinton's visit to Prague. According to sources, the visit will take place January 12. Presidential Spokesman Ladislav Spacek said Wednesday that details of Clinton's visit will be released as soon as possible. The European trip is also set to include stops in Brussels and Moscow. According to Clinton Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, Clinton won't visit the Ukraine, but didn't exclude the possibility of negotiations in Byellarussia. According to sources, Bill Clinton will likely meet leading representatives of the four countries gathered in the Visegrad Group during his journey. Members of the Czech Parliament Negotiated New Tax Laws Amendments to the road tax law and the real estate law were passed by Parliament December 1. According to the road tax, owners of the cars meeting European Economic Board standards for catalystic converters will be extempt from paying the road tax. Cars used by employees for their business trips will not be extempted. The amendment to the real estate tax law gives municipalities greater power in setting property taxes. Parliament also negotiated the goverment proposals for the inheritance tax, donation tax, real estate transfer tax and an amendment to the value added tax. The motions of the inheritance tax, donation tax and real estate transfer tax presume a slight increase in these taxes. In spite of this, the Czech Republic should remain a country with one of the lowest taxes of this type. A proposal by Civic Democratic Party member Richard Mandelik for a 50 percent reduction in the inheritance tax caused a great number of proposed amendments and discussion was halted. Trains Didn't Stop A five-hour strike of railway workers announced for November 29, failed to occur. Leaders of the Railway Workers Labor Union called off the strike after reaching an agreement with Czech Minister of Transport Jan Strasky. Strasky confirmed that he had promised that new fare tariffs for workers are the last price increase until the end of the transformation of the Czech railways. The agreement will allow family members of railway workers to get a certain amount of free tickets . Postponing establishment of the the new rates was achieved by the Labor Union Representatives during the negotiations. Danger of Fascism and Racism Still Increasing in the Czech Republic The number of fascist and racist movements continues to rise in the Czech Republic, according to anti-racist organizations, judicial authorites, police, and even the racist groups themselves.. More than ten underground magazines popularizing fascism and the race hatred against Gypsies, Vietnamese and Jews are published regularly and an anti-semitic magazine called "Today" is published legally. After a similar weekly, "Politics", was dissolvedd earlier this year, "Today" is the second magazine of such content officially allowed. The Ministry of Culture, which is in charge of registering magazines and newspapers, only screens them during the act of registration and doesn't when they actually start coming out anymore. According to one of the members of a movement called "National Fascist Group," the main motivation of the fascist and racist movements is to prevent the situation similar to Germany in which waves of immigrants and refuges have arrived. "It is not possible for us to accept such a huge amount of immigrants when we already have so many unmanagable Gypsies," he said. According to article 260 of the criminal law, anyone spreading national, race, class or religious hatred in public can be senceted to up to five years in jail. However, Czech authorities haven't succeeded in prosecuting under the law. One of the last cases is the Czech Oi-rock group called "Branik". According to legal experts, the band's lyrics are undoubtedly inconsistent with the valid criminal law. However, a police investigator dropped the case, saying that they commited no crime. One of Branik's songs says: "The Czech Republic belongs to Czechs. In a side street, there is a negro. He poisons the air, disturbs the peace. Pour them with gas, burn them all...". Another case involved the release of the publishers of the "Minutes of the Zionistic Wise Men," an anti-semitic pamphlet, for the second time. According to lawyers, the attitude of state authorities is caused by the fact that there are few willing to be witnesses in such cases. Deputy General Prosecutor Pavel Bret said there is a certain unwillingess of state representaives to judge these cases because of often broad public support for the racist movements and positions. According to Bret, skinheads sometimes stand in for the police and part of the public likes them for that. Czech Interior Minister Jan Ruml promised during a meeting of the "Movement for Civic Solidarity and Tolerance," which fights against race intolerance, that he would publish an all-embracing report on the state of racism in the country. A part of this report will be dedicated to how to prevent racism and fascism. Romany Disliked by Three-Fourths Czechs More than three-quarters of all Czechs say they dislike Romany, or Gypsies, according to results of a November survey. The survey reported that only 3 percent of Czechs said they like Romany, while 77 percent said they don't. Sixteen percent said they fell somewhere in the middle, and 4 percent reported no feelings toward the republic's largest minority group. The survey by the Institute of Public Opinion Research asked 802 people 15 years or older their feelings towards national minorities. The survey was reported in the Czech press. The survey also found that Czechs have the most favorable view of Slovaks, with 69 percent viewing them sympathetically. Only 39 percent reported such feelings toward Poles, 35 percent toward Germans and 33 percent toward Jews. People age of 15-29 have the least favorable feelings towards national minorities. Comparisons with a March survey, (reported in CAROLINA, issue 71) show that the favorable view toward Slovaks increased by 11 percent points. Czechs Oppose Church's Property Restitution A survey by the Institute of Public Opinion Research on the question of further restitution of church property showed that 64 percent of those surveyed opposed such moves. In favor of continued restitution were only 29 out of 802 respondents. Fifty percent are against restitution of property to social or sports organizations. Relatively little opposition is found for restitution of property to the Jewish community. Opposed to the restitution were 47 percent, with 37 percent in favor. One-fourth of men and one-third of women agree with the continued restitution of church property. World AIDS Day Marked Medical reports released a few days before World AIDS Day show that 166 cases of HIV-infection have been recorded in the Czech Republic, 45 of which had developed into full-blown AIDS and 33 which had caused death. Ten percent of the cases reported occurred among women, a percentage that is rising. On December 1, hundreds of young people gathered at Wenceslas Square to demonstrate their concern with the problem. More than a thousand candles were lighted for people who have died from AIDS-related illnesses. Doctors from the specialized AIDS Center were on hand to answer people's questions. Also, the activist group "Lust Without Risk" began an educational campaign among prostitutes along the E-55 highway. The highway, a major route from Prague to Germany, has become an notorious strip for prostitution. Animal right activists rally against leather manufacture Under the slogan "Better naked than in fur," about 30 supporters of the Animal SOS foundation protested against leather manufacturing November 29. In front of The House of Style on Wenceslas Square, passers-by in the sub-freezing temperatures saw eight activists dressed only in swimming suits. The demonstration followed the pattern of ones held abroad. Petr Bergmann, spokesman of the group, said the main reasons for the protest were the killing of animals just for leather and the shocking living conditions in the cages. Leaflets given out said that such demonstrations in France and Great Britain had resulted in large decreses of fur sales, forcing firms to focus their attention on Central and Eastern Europe. The leaflet said that to manufacture one fur coat requires 65 mink or 130 cinchilla furs. ECONOMICS Report From The Stock Exchange During trading sessions November 25 and 30, the Prague Stock Exchange saw trading valued at 461.1 million crowns, with nearly three-fourths of the action on Tuesday's session. In comparison with Thursday's trading at the central market of 74.4 million crowns, Tuesday's 190 million crowns were a record high. Another record set was the highest number of issues sold -- 337, inluding 326 shares of coupon privatization. While Thursday's session showed continued declines, with 200 stocks falling and 121 rising, Tuesday saw gains, with several stocks reaching the maximum allowable one-day increase of 20 percent. Skoda Plzen, which closed down 17.7 percent Thursday at 520 crowns a share, finished Tuesday at 624 crowns. CKD Praha shares went from 390 to 468 crowns, Aero from 250 to 300, and CZ Strakonice from 390 to 468 crowns. The most active stocks remain Cokoladovny, at 6,500 crowns, and Tabak, at 7,300. Bank shares were mixed. Except for the steady decline of Vodni stavby, now at 896 a share, the biggest looser was the Ceska pojistovna, which dropped 2,600 crowns to close at 10 400. In spite of that it remains the richest privatizated company, with the brewery Radegast closing in behind. Most of privatization funds shares were rising too. Exchange Rates of the Czech National Bank (valid from December 3) CASH CHECKS Buy Sell Buy Sell Middle EMS-ECU 1XEU - - 33,225 33,559 33,392 France 1FRF 4,83 5,23 5,002 5,052 5,027 Italy 1 000ITL 16,63 18,17 17,315 17,489 17,402 Japan 100JPY 26,14 28,74 27,303 27,577 27,440 Canada 1CAD 21,43 23,21 22,208 22,432 22,320 Neatherlands 1NLG 15,03 15,99 15,427 15,583 15,505 Austria 1ATS 2,41 2,53 2,460 2,484 2,472 Germany 1DEM 16,92 17,84 17,296 17,470 17,383 Switzerland 1CHF 19,40 20,40 19,800 20,000 19,900 USA 1USD 29,14 30,54 29,686 29,835 29,835 Great Britain 1GBP 42,79 45,63 43,989 44,431 44,210 CZECH AND SLOVAK CASH EXCHANGE RATES Slovak crown in Czech Republic Czech crown in Slovakia Bank / 100 Sk Buy Sell Bank / 100 CEK Buy Sell Cs.obchodni banka 88,00 92,00 Cs.obchodna banka 107,00 113,00 Ceska sporitelna 82,00 86,00 VUB 106,00 114,00 Komercni banka 77,00 81,00 Slovenska statna Investicni banka 78,00 83,00 sporitelna 105,00 113,00 Coopbanka 82,00 86,00 COOPbanka 107,00 113,00 Federal money completely gone On November 30, Czechs used the old two- and five-crown coins for the last time. Those coins were the last federal money used. Businesses can return them until december 10th. Exchange of the old coins for the new ones will be possible in the banks until the end of February. SCHOOLS - STUDENTS Starting Next Year Most of Secondary School Students Will Pay For Books On December 1, the goverment discussed proposals concerning free books and facilities at schools. First grade basic school pupils will be given books free and will not have to return them. Other basic school pupils will get them free too, but will have to return them, the same as some special secondary school, such as the ones for blind or handicapped students. Most of secondary school students will pay for books from the next year. But the headmasters will found libraries sponsored by the state, where some 30 percent of students might borrow them. Headmasters will judge which of the students will get them. The government believes that after two years this will drop to less than 10 percent. Books in use will be sold at half-price. HEALTH Prominent Prague Hospital Will Be Privatizated The starting price of the hospital Na Homolce, which in the past served prominent politicals and their relatives, is 1.3 billion crowns. The price was set at a meeting of goverment ministers November 30. Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus said the associated Leksell Gama Knife will not be privatizated. It was bought by money collected by the public and it is the property of the foundation, which organized the collection. This year's donation from the state is 80 million crowns. Rescue Units Face Mass Walkout Prague rescue squad drivers are considering resigning en masse. "For some time now, employees have been leaving due to pay, and I doubt that replacements can be found," said Pavel Getlik, Prague rescue service director. Drivers are already working over-time to ensure safe operations. The 18-location rescue service, with flight unit, currently employs 240. Each new driver must complete 100 hours of medical education. But according to Getlik, no new workers are applying. The situation is similar in other towns. With awards and bonuses, the average salary amounts to 6,402 crowns per month. Prague's chief magistrate, Jan Koukal, was cited in Mlada Fronta Dnes as saying that he is planning to send the director a letter, stating the city standpoint as founder of the service on the current situation. FROM SLOVAKIA New Party on Slovak Political Scene Slovakia's new liberal party, the Alliance of Democrats of the Slovak Republic (ADSR), held its first assembly November 28, emerging after more than six months of preparation. The party formed following a split between Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, head of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, and Milan Knazko, former foreign minister. Knazko was elected ADSR's party chairman. Rudolf Filkus and Jan Budaj were voted in as vice-chairmen at the Bratislava session. Seven until-now independent members of parlaiment joined the party. Knazko said he believes his party gets much of its support from businessmen and entrepreneurs. He said he would like to cooperate with the Christian Democratic Movement and the Slovak National Party. The ADSR chairman said he would even consider an alliance with the liberal wing of Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. CULTURE Prague and Liturature Pre-Christmas Prague is alive with liturature; poets and authors are introducing their books, baroque texts are being read in the Memorial to National Liturature, and talks and autograph sessions are taking place. Residents and guests to the capital city can look forward to further literary affairs in the coming days and weeks. The Strahov Memorial to National Literature will host an evening "Round Table of Contemporaries", for Czech poets and authors to recall old times. Among those set to participate are Jiri Kolar, Josef Hirsal, Bohumila Grogerova, and Pavel Tigrid. Prague will soon welcome renowned American poet, Allen Ginsberg, who began his visit in the Czech Republic at the Olomouc University. Philosophical Faculty students will be able to attend his lecture December 6, later others can see him at the American Culture Center. Karlovy Vary Film Fest Seeks Sponsor The Film Festival of Karlovy Vary Foundation will award sponsorship to next year's international film festival to the highest bidder to ensure financial support of the event. The town, the Grandhotel Pupp, and the Ministry of Culture launched the foundation. The Ministry of Culture will provide technical equipment worth nearly 2 million crowns. SPORT President Havel Suspends Cyclist's Sentence President Vaclav Havel delayed November 30 the beginning of a prison term for cyclist Radomir Simunkov until his petition for reprieve can be processed. The term had been scheduled to begin the next day. Simunkov, a several-time world champion in cross-race biking, was found by the courts to have caused a car accident in which three people died. The regional court in Beroun sentenced him to 18 months in prison. Simunek's requested pardon, due to family reasons, was refused. He petitioned the president July 2. Presidential Spokesman Ladislav Spacek denied that the sentence was delayed because Simunkov is a world champion. The postponement is temporary, and doesn't necessarily mean that a pardon will be granted, he said. The length of the reprieve was not made explicit. Czech legislation has said that Simunek has full rights to take part in top cross-racing tournaments. He will be able to start in the next year's world championship in Belgium. WEATHER This weekend was predominantly cloudy, with a little snowy. Mornings were misty. Daytime high temperatures ranged from 1 to 5 below zero degrees Celsius, and nighttime lows were between 7 and 15 below zero. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. Send them please to the address: carolina@n.fsv.cuni.cs To subscribe to CAROLINA you send an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@CSEARN.BITNET. The text of the message is: SUBSCRIBE CAR-ENG First name Last name for the English version or SUBSCRIBE CAR-CS First name Last name for the Czech version. To delete your subscription from the list you send the following message to LISTSERV@CSEARN.BITNET: SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS Please, don't send automatic replies to our list. You can temporalily stop receiving of Carolna by sending the command: SET CAR-ENG NOMAIL The command should be sent to the address LISTSERV@CSEARN.BITNET