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.cz Fax: (+422) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 121, Friday, June 3, 1994. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (May 25 - June 1) Havel, Kovac Seek Stronger Czech-Slovak Ties The presidents of the Czech and Slovak republics, Vaclav Havel and Michal Kovac, agreed May 26 to establish a foundation to support the cultural relationship and exchange of students between their countries. According to media reports, the two also agreed on establishing an Institute of Czech-Slovak Studies and founding a presidential prize for those who contribute to the mutual relationship. The activities grew out of the desire of Havel and Kovac to reverse the declining interest in the relationship, they said. The countries' ministers of culture, Czech Pavel Tigrid and Slovak Lubo Roman, met in Bratislava. Havel and Kovac also declared that the Benes decrees (adopted immediately after the end of the Second World War) will not be revised. They also spoke in favor of settling the property issue of the former federal Czechoslovakia by the end of this year. Havel said he is concerned about the long-term decline of trade with Slovakia, and Kovac affirmed Slovak interest in maintaining the Customs Union and its willingness to discuss issues with the Czech Republic. Havel also met with Slovak Prime Minister Jozef Moravcik, representatives of non-governmental organizations in the Slovak Republic and the Society for International Relations. Natalie/Milan Pinochet Visit Sparks Angry Protests Former Chilean dictator and current army commander Augusto Pinochet began a visit to the Czech Republic May 30 with a Chilean delegation is interested in buying arms. The visit sparked several street demonstrations against Pinochet, who seized power from the democratically-elected Salvador Allende in a bloody coup in 1973 and ruled Chile until 1990. The delegation was invited by the company Omnipol, which specializes in the export of arms. President Vaclav Havel and other Czech politicians keep their distance from Pinochet's visit. A spokesman for Havel said the president felt Czech-Chilean relations would be beneficial only if they were developed by people respected in the democratic world. Interior Minister Jan Ruml said Pinochet should not have been granted an entry visa. The Interior Ministry did not provide security for the visit. "It is a very private visit that has not been organized by any of the institutions of the Czech state," prime Minister Vaclav Klaus was quoted as saying in the Czech press. The trip was exclusively a working and business matter with no connection to political relations, said Defense Minister Antonin Baudys. Baudys did not allow the delegation to visit the High Military School in Vyskov. On the evening of the 30th, Pinochet was supposed to attend a dinner for the delegation at Troja Castle in Prague. But the director of the Prague Art Gallery, owner of the castle, prohibited Pinochet from entering the Castle. But not everyone was critical of the general. In a televised interview, Christian Democratic Party Parliament Member Tomas Svoboda characterized Pinochet as a man who had rescued Chile from communism and brought the country to economic prosperity. He said that if Czechoslovakia had had someone like Pinochet in 1948, when the communists seized power, today's situation would be different. However, Jiri Holub, the foreign secretary for the Liberal Social Union said Svoboda's statement wasscandalous. According to a statement by Jiri Holub reported in Lidove Noviny, Pinochet's visit was a victory for the cynical Czech foreign policy and a consequence of minimizing the danger of fascism and right-wing dictatorships in the world. Pinochet's visit is damaging for interests and image of the Czech Republic, Holub said. While the schedule of the visit was kept secret, the Czech press gave it front page treatment. Lida/Milan President Edvard Benes Remembered A memorial service for Edvard Benes, the second Czechoslovak president, was held May 28 at the Benes family tomb in Sezimovo Usti on 110th anniversary of his birth. A number of significant public and political personalities of southern Bohemia took part, as well as Presidential Office Deputy Ivan Medek and a parliamentary mission led by Parliament Chairman Milan Uhde. After an opening speech by the Sezimovo Usti mayor, Uhde gave an official speech before hundreds of people. He pointed out, that Tomas Garrigue Masaryk wanted Benes to be his successor as early as 1918: "It was evidence of the immense credit Benes deserved in concluding the political struggle for Czech and Slovak representation during the First World War. Masaryk's words - "We would not have the republic without Benes" - were not uprooted even by his harshest critics." Wreaths of the president, parliament, Society of Edvard Benes, Sezimovo usti and other missions were laid at the tomb. Dusan/Daniela Agent Zifcak sentenced to 18 months Former Secret Police lieutenant Ludvik Zifcak, known by the code name Ruzicka, was sentenced May 27 to 18 months without parole. The court found him guilty of abusing the power of public authority. The court also found guilty Antonin Suchy and Vladimir Marecek two former officers of the Prague and Central Bohemia Secret Police. The convicts have the right to appeal within eight days. The court found that the men, in contradiction with then valid rules and regulations, prepared false papers to allow Zifcak to infiltrate various organizations in Ostrava and Prague, and included preparing false school records and enrolling Zifcak-Ruzicka among the students of the Mining University in Ostrava. Dusan/Daniela Entry Examinations Near School entrance exams, a dreaded but necessary part of prospective university students' applications, are soon to be administered. The Philosophical Faculty of the Charles University is one of the most attractive schools of classical education here, and it's system for selecting students has a long tradition. The system has two parts: a written and an oral test. All applying students, who pay about 200 crowns for administration purposes, take the written test. Those who do well enought advance to the oral part. Boards of school professors from particular courses examine the deeper knowledge of students, their interest in the subject, and the level of their speech. Within a month, participants find out if they are among the one in ten who pass, and are accepted into university. This year, 45 students will be chosen from the 1,264 who applied to study pyschology. The interpreting and translating section will take 55 out of 1,279, history will take 70 of 1,254, and the department of Czech language and literature will accept a tenth of the 739 students who applied. A similar number will be accepted in the English and American studies course. On the contrary, there are fewer applicants this year than last for the philosophy department. But even there, only 40 of the 311 applicants will find a chair come next fall. Zuzana/Zuzana ECONOMICS Josef Tosovsky Awarded "European Manager 1994" Prize Accepting the nomination of Economia and Hosposarske noviny, the Union of European Financial Press awarded Czech National Bank Governor Josef Tosovsky with the prize of "European Manager of 1994." He will be awarded the prize June 16 in Roma. Tosovsky, 43, won "The Governor of The Year" last autumn from the English magazine Euromoney. Lida/Daniela Prize for Komercni Banka According to a press release from Komercni Banka, the prize for the best Eastern European bank of 1993 was awarded to the Czech Komercni banka. This prize is given annually by the readers of Central European, a special magazine of European bank and financial businessmen. The honor was given to Komercni banka representatives during recent meeting of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in St. Petersburg. Five thousand financial businessmen took part in the session. Prizes were awarded to other banks and institutions as well, for instance to Internationale Nederlanden Bank was named the most active bank in Central and Eastern Europe. Komercni banka was also recently given a "Euromarket Award," by European Market Research Centre in Brussels. The nominating criteria were professionalism of management and services, quality of products, technical innovations and development potential concerning the European market. Katerina/Daniela EXCHAGE RATES OF THE CZECH NATIONAL BANK (valid from June 2) CHECKS CASH country Buy Sell Middle Buy Sell ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Australia 1 AUD 21.390 21.604 21.497 20.43 22.57 Belgium 100 BEF 85.331 86.189 85.760 83.06 88.46 Great Britain 1 GBP 43.759 44.199 43.979 42.56 45.40 Denmark 1 DKK 4.469 4.513 4.491 4.29 4.69 Finland 1 FIM 5.294 5.348 5.321 4.82 5.82 France 1 FRF 5.137 5.189 5.163 4.96 5.36 Ireland 1 IEP 42.755 43.185 42.970 40.97 44.97 Italy 1000 ITL 18.150 18.332 18.241 17.47 19.01 Japan 100 JPY 27.629 27.907 27.768 26.47 29.07 Canada 1 CAD 20.926 21.136 21.031 20.14 21.92 Luxemburg 100 LUF 85.331 86.189 85.760 82.76 88.76 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.662 15.820 15.741 15.26 16.22 Norway 1 NOK 4.049 4.089 4.069 3.92 4.22 New Zealand 1 NZD 17.159 17.331 17.245 16.50 18.00 Portugal 100 PTE 16.923 17.093 17.008 15.83 18.19 Austria 1 ATS 2.497 2.523 2.510 2.45 2.57 Greece 100 GRD 11.830 11.948 11.889 11.18 12.60 Germany 1 DEM 17.563 17.739 17.651 17.19 18.11 Spain 100 ESP 21.308 21.522 21.415 20.42 22.42 Sweden 1 SEK 3.683 3.721 3.702 3.54 3.86 Swityerland 1 CHF 20.631 20.839 20.735 20.24 21.24 USA 1 USD 28.936 29.226 29.081 28.38 29.78 EC-ECU 1 XEU 33.820 34.160 33.990 -- -- IMF-SDR 1 XDR 41.012 41.424 41.218 -- -- Slovakia 1 XCU -- -- 33.990 -- -- Weather Mornings are still cold, however, during the day the weather is summery, with clear skies, sunny and warm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. 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