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 Faculty of Social Science of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz tel: (+42 2) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+42 2) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 199, Friday, April 19, 1996. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (April 10-17) Havel in the Baltics President Vaclav Havel has been in the Baltic states since April 14 on a six-day official visit. Begining his tour in Latvia, the Czech president and his Latvian counterpart Guntis Ulmanis witnessed the signing of a free-trade-zone agreement between the two countries. Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Vladimir Doulhy and Latvian Foreign Minister Valdis Birkavs signed the agreement, which will make exchange of goods simpler. Both presidents agreed on the importance of expanding the EU and NATO towards the East, and on their interest in maintaining good relations with Russia. Before leaving April 16 for Lithuania, Havel visited a training base for the Baltic's BALTBAT joint military units. Accompanied by the Latvian president, he inspected weapons destined for the Czech Republic. Petra Rubesova/Andrea Snyder Poland and Czech Republic to Cooperate Czech Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec and Defense Minister Vilem Holan met their Polish counterparts, Dariusz Rosati and Stanislaw Dobrzanski, respectively, April 13 in Vyskov. They decided to work more closely in the flight industry, and signed a pact to cooperate in military areas. They also discussed problems related to NATO expansion. Petra Rubesova/Andrea Snyder Klaus in Leipzig German President Roman Herzog and Saxony Prime Minister Kurt Biedenkopf, with the participation of Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, opened a new fairgrounds in Leipzig April 12. Klaus was the only foreign guest to speak at the opening. In his speech, he said he evaluates the cooperation between Saxony and the Czech Republic as being positive, and, in relation to the Czech-German Declaration, expressed a wish not to dwell so much in the past, but to work on the future. Herzog called the Czech economy a successful one and marked it as an example for other countries interested in joining the EU. He also commented on the importance of Leipzig and its trade fairs for both western and eastern Europe. Klaus attended the Auto Mobil International exposition, the first at the new fairgrounds, and visited the Czech exhibitors, particularly the automaker Skoda. Barbora Spevakova/Andrea Snyder John Major Visits Czech Republic At the invitation of his Czech counterpart, British Prime Minister John Major flew into the Czech Republic for a short 15-hour visit April 17. Besides official talks, the prime ministers walked along Charles Bridge together, ate dinner at the Hrzan Palace and shared a drink at the Rhapsody piano-bar, while Eva Pilarova sang. The Czech press characterizes the visit as part of Major's support of Klaus' Civic Democratic Party (ODS) in light of the upcoming elections. Petra Rubesova/Andrea Snyder *********************************************************************** PRE-ELECTION SERVICE Political Parties Draw Election Numbers Representatives of the 20 parties and movements running for Parliament drew the numbers under which voters will vote for them. Elections will be May 31 and June 1. The Civic Democratic Party, called by the polls the election favorite, drew number 3. The opposition, the Czech Social Democratic Party - the second strongest party - drew a 2. The Civic Democratic Alliance will run with an 8, the far-right Association for the Republic - Czechoslovak Republican Party with a 17, the Christian Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party with a 10. The ballot marked with a 15 is reserved for the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. The Left Bloc, the closest of the contending parties to the 5-per-cent cut-off limit, can be found under number 18. Although the parties will use the numbers in their election campaigns, they do not afford the numbers much importance. The numbers will be found on election platform fliers, posters and other election materials. Michaela Vysoudilova/Andrea Snyder Only CSSD Allows Budget Deficit The Czech National Social Democratic Party (CSSD) is the only important political party which would allow a budget deficit. The governing Civic Democratic Party with the Christian Democratic Union - the Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-CSL) support a balanced budget, and are convinced that a balanced budget is the basis of a correct economic policy. Governing coalition partner the Civic Democratic Alliance, the opposition Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia and the far-right Republicans do not address the issue. CSSD does not refute the possibility of a temporary budget deficit in line with the Maastricht Treaty. The treaty is the European Union's condition for member countries and exchangeable currencies, which states that such countries must keep their deficit to less than 3 per cent of GDP. The deficit should not be able to threaten future exchange balance. Both the Communists' and the Republicans' programs assume higher expenses in the future, but do not count on a general tax increase, with the exception of extremely wealthy citizens. The texts do not mention how the increased expenses will be covered. Radim Wolak/Andrea Snyder Greens to Court over Ballot The Central Election Commission upheld April 11 the Regional Election Commission's decision to eliminate the ballot of the Green Party in the region of northern Moravia and Silesia. Both Commissions based this conclusion on the fact that the Green Party filled in the ballot with only the birth numbers of its candidates, not the birthdates as required. The Greens have a last chance to reverse the decision by appealing to the Supreme Court, which has to decide on the validity of the ballot within three days. Michaela Vysoudilova/Milan Smid ODA and ODS Have Fans among Artists Like last year, governing coalition leader the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) arranged a meeting this year of its principal representatives with party Chairman and Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus at the head, and including Czech celebrities. The meeting was held in the early evening April 10 in Prague's Nostic Palace. Singer Karel Gott, violinist Josef Suk, director Jiri Menzel, writer Ludvik Vaculik and artist Milan Knizak were among the participants. The director of Vinohrady Theater, actress Jirina Jiraskova, and Klaus gave a talk to the guests present as an introduction. After that the initiative was left to the artists present. They quickly created a number of debating circles, and ODS representatives (e.g. Parliament Chairman Milan Uhde, Economy Minster Karel Dyba, Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec and Prague Mayor Jan Koukal) joined in. Klaus complained when having a talk with filmmakers that he had not seen a Czech film for a long time, because, for lack of free time, he attends only cultural events that he is invited to. He also amused those present with his ironic comment that after losing this summer's elections he will have a lot of time to visit the cinema and theater to make up for recent times. A similar meeting was arranged also by coalition partner the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) April 9 in Prague's Rudolfinum. Favor was expressed by film director Olga Sommerova, folk singer Jaroslav Hutka, writer Ivan Klima, songwriter Jan Vodnansky and others. Some celebrities, like Menzel and fellow director Fero Fenic, attended both soirees. Alice Ticha/Alice Ticha ************************************************************************ President Receives Citizens of U Sabotu Village President Vaclav Havel met the five-member delegation of citizens from the village U Sabotu April 11 at Prague Castle. They handed him a map and a letter with signatures as a display of disagreement with the planned annexation of their settlement to Slovakia. Havel did not promise anything to the inhabitants. The president's spokesman, Ladislav Spacek, said after the appointment that Havel regards the possible annexation of the settlement as the tax that its inhabitants would have to pay for the demise of the former federation. The delegation met also the deputies of the Left Bloc in Parliament. Their decision concerning this problem might be decisive in voting in Parliament (see Carolina 198). Natasa Hajkova/Alice Ticha "Children of the Earth" Gave Awards For Merits in Ecology The prize Oil Gobbler (Ropak) of the Year 1995 was awarded to Frantisek Maly, the chairman of the Beroun district office, for supporting construction of the Tman cement works near the Czech Karst region (Cesky kras). Czech Environment Minister Frantisek Benda took second place, and his deputy Ales Sulc came in third. Results of the fourth Oil Gobbler of the Year competition, organized by ecological activists were announced April 12 in Brno, along with the first Stupidest Statement Competition. The 100-member jury ruled that Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus had made the year's stupidest statement concerning the environment. Last year, when giving a speech at Palacky University in Olomouc, he said "Ecology is not a science. It has nothing to do with science. It is an ideology." The oil gobbler is a fictitious creation from the 1988 film Oil Gobblers made by then-film student Jan Sverak (son of writer-actor Zdenek Sverak, who starred in his son's later films Elementary School, Akumulator and the soon-to-be-released Kolya). The oil gobbler is dependent on bad environmental conditions and cannot survive in an ecologically clean world. Isar A.W./Milan Smid Pinkas Synagogue Reopened The Pinkas Synagogue, where the walls bear the names of almost 80,000 Jews from 153 Czech and Moravian communities killed during Holocaust was reopened April 16 after a decades-long closure. The synagogue was opened to the public in 1959, and closed in 1968 because of a prepared reconstruction, but the Communist regime's disfavor prevented its reopening. The names, the only remainder of the victims, were erased. In the fall of 1992 four restorers and their assistants began to work on the renewal of the names, as well as dates of birth and death and last address. The records cover about 540 square feet/170 square meters. The artists worked by hand, without stencils, getting information from archives and Nazi files of deported Jews. In the future more names might be added. Zora Kasikova/Petra Sevcikova Government Will Not Propose Dissolution of Stepan's Communists After its April 10 cabinet meeting, the government announced it will not propose the dissolution of the Party of Czechoslovak Communists (SCK) to the Supreme Court. The SCK is chaired by Miroslav Stepan, a high functionary in the pre-November 1989 regime. On the contrary, the cabinet intends to propose a change in the law concerning political parties and movements so that no future government will be able to disqualify any political party from competing with other parties. The proposal to dissolve the SCK was given to the government March 11 Interior Minister and former dissident Jan Ruml. He decided to do so after the SCK declared, at its party congress, its affiliation with the pre-November 1989 Communist Party (see Carolina 192 and 194). Petr Mrzena/Petra Sevcikova Treatment against SIV virus Czech and Belgian scientists have discovered a drug which prevents infection by the SIV virus, which is similar to the HIV virus. The discovery was announced April 11 by Antonin Holy, head of the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Czech Academy of Science. The drug, designated (R)-PMPA, was tested on monkeys. If it was applied shortly after the infection or before, it prevented the onset of the sickness preceding SIV. The drug is able to disturb the metabolism of the infected cell and destroy the virus dependant on the cells. In March the USA approved usage of the drug Vistide, which treats the eye diseases of AIDS patients. It was developed by a Czech-American team, its development took 10 years and, including clinical testing, cost 250 million USD. Darina Coufalova/Petra Sevcikova Czech Party of the Republic to Support Industry and Agriculture Poldi Ocel Kladno steelworks head and owner of Bohemia Art Vladimir Stehlik founded his own political party last week. Called the Czech Party of the Republic (CSR), its major aim is support of industry and agriculture, according to the Poldi spokeswoman Dana Cihelkova. Arsen Kocarjan/Petra Sevcikova Melantrich Taken Over by Chemapol The Chemapol Group, which bought an almost 40-per-cent stake in Melantrich (publisher of the daily Svobodne slovo), will have the deciding word in Melantrich's business. Chemapol will have three seats on Melantrich's five-member board of directors, while the Melantrich Foundation Melantrich will have the other two. Radim Wolak/Petra Sevcikova FROM SLOVAKIA President Kovac Returns Redistricting Bill to Assembly Slovak President Michal Kovac did not sign the Redistricting Bill (see Carolina 196) and returned it to the National Assembly for further debate. His decision was accompanied by a written explanantion, in which he proposes that the capital of Bratislava become a single region. Many regions have protested against the Assembly-approved bill, particularly representatives of the Bratislava City Council, including Mayor P. Kresanek. Despite the protest, Slovak Premier Vladimir Meciar has named representatives for individual regions to carry out tasks connected with the introduction of the bill's contents. Petr Pabian/Michael Bluhm ECONOMY/BUSINESS More Than a Half-Million Employees Left Industry in Six Years About 600,000 employees, nearly a quarter of the original total, left various Czech industrial companies within the past six years. A majority of them found new jobs in the services sector. Czech industry had a workforce of 2.1 million people in 1989. In 1996, about 1.5 million employees remained. This massive shift of labor has not affected the unemployment rate, which remains at about 3 per cent. Experts consider this departure of workers unique in the world. Lucie Dvorakova/Michael Wagner Poldi Kladno Without Energy? The Poldi Kladno steelworks are to be cut off from their supply of electricity, steam and other sources of energy if they violate their contract on energy payments, the Kladno Energy Center announced to Poldi's creditors April 10. The creditors of the steel mill are protesting, because the cutoff could paralyze the production activities of the mill. Poldi would receive only the minimum amount of the energy set by the law as necessary for maintaining the safety and light, according to Czech daily Lidove noviny. The following production renewal could cost several hundred million Czech crowns. Commerce Bank (Komercni banka), Poldi's biggest creditor Poldi, is not willing to finance production. Marketa Hudkova/Katerina Zachovalova TV NOVA Quadrupled Profits in 1995 The company operating TV NOVA raised its pre-tax profit to about 39 million USD (about 1.05 billion Czech crowns) in 1995, four times higher than 1994's pre-tax profit of 10.3 million USD. The largest private television station in the Czech Republic thus reached a level of profits comparable with the biggest domestic industrial companies. NOVA surpassed by many times the profits of the public Czech Television (CT). The pre-tax profits of CT in 1994 were 154 million Czech crowns. CT's 1995 results have not yet been published, but it is presumed that CT's advertising income decreased dramatically, and that last year ended in red ink for CT. NOVA is one of the subsidiaries of Central European Media Enterprises, which operates private TV stations in central and eastern Europe, and it is the only CME subsidiary with significant profits. The Czech Association of Advertising Agencies (ARA) expects a further increase in advertising expenditure in 1996, when Czech advertisers should spend about 1.1 billion Czech crowns more than year before. The increase should be stimulated partially by the election campaign and the unprecedentedly large advertising campaign for the mobile phones. David Vozdecky/Katerina Zachovalova Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from April 15) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 21.674 Belgium 100 BEF 89.257 Great Britain 1 GBP 41.649 Denmark 1 DKK 4.750 Finland 1 FIM 5.829 France 1 FRF 5.399 Ireland 1 IEP 43.158 Italy 1000 ITL 17.505 Japan 100 JPY 25.552 Canada 1 CAD 20.310 Luxemburg 100 LUF 89.257 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.400 Norway 1 NOK 4.247 New Zealand 1 NZD 18.850 Portugal 100 PTE 17.863 Austria 1 ATS 2.608 Greece 100 GRD 11.403 Slovakia 100 SKK 90.630 Germany 1 DEM 18.331 Spain 100 ESP 21.981 Sweden 1 SEK 4.092 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.513 USA 1 USD 27.580 ECU 1 XEU 34.300 SDR 1 XDR 39.862 CULTURE Czech Culture to Contribute to Bosnia's Recovery The festival of Czech culture called Spring '96 will open in Sarajevo April 19. The Man in Emergency (CVT) Foundation is organizing the festival, with financial backing from Czech Television and the firm Barrandov Biografia. "Rescue aid to Bosnia ended at the close of last year, now development aid is taking off. What we are doing now is not a matter of life and death. It is now a question of Bosnia becoming a normal European state," said Simon Panek, the director of the CVT, to the Czech daily Lidove noviny. Film and TV production foremost will be shown to the Bosnian audience - productions include cartoons and children's feature films, film dramas, musical programs and portraits of Czech President Vaclav Havel's and Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus's from the TV cycle GEN. The Smetana trio, the Kubelik trio, violinist Jaroslav Sveceny and a few rock bands will bring Czech music into the country at 10 various sites. Art and photo exhibitions will complete the cultural festival. Jitka Motejzikova/Jitka Motejzikova Remarkable Exhibit in National Gallery The exhibit entitled The Art Gallery in Bohemia 1796-1918 will be opened in the Prague Castle Riding School. The National Gallery arranged this exhibition to comemmorate the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the Art Gallery Society of the Patriotic Friends of Art in Bohemia. The authors of the exhibition wanted to show what kind of art was considered to be representative in the 19th century. Vit Valnas, who designed the exhibit, said at a press conference that the exhibit was not only about art but also about the development of art presentation. The selection of exhibited works was directed by the criteria of that time, according to which the exhibit is divided into three parts. The first part shows the collection from the establishment of the society till the beginning of the 1880's. The second part introduces the golden age of the Art Gallery Society, after 1885. The third part brings us near to the spirit of Prague's spring salons at the turn of the century. The exhibition will be opened till June 30. Olga Huderova/Jitka Motejzikova Alberto Sordi Visits Days of European Film Festival in Prague Alberto Sordi visited the third-annual Days of European Film Festival, in progress at Prague's Lucerna Theater from April 12-21. The Italian actor, director and screenwriter presented his two newest films - The Affair of a Poor Young Man and Nestor's Last Run - within the film festival. Aside from these films, Sordi also introduced to the Czech public his autobiography, The Story of an Italian, which should soon be published in Czech. Jakub Konecny/Klara Schirova International Theater Festival in Budejovice The international theater festival A Pleasant Meeting took place in Ceske Budejovice April 10-4. The NOS Theater (The Independent Open Scene), recently formed by the fusion of the Studio dell Arte and the Continuo Theater, hosted the festival. Theater groups from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Belgium, Germany and Austria participated in the Budejovice festival. Alida Kassymova/Klara Schirova Czech Museum of Fine Arts Hosting Two Exhibits at Once Two exhibits premiered in the Czech Museum of Fine Arts in Prague April 15. The first one presents works from painter Jiri Corvin, inspired by the northen Bohemian landscape rendered in the majority of his paintings (as a consequence of extensive coal mining, northern Bohemia is one of the most devasted areas in the country). Simple abstract painting hides dramatic motives, and points at the destruction of nature and the problems of a continuously growing civilization. The second exhibit introduces the works of sculptress Daniela Vinopalova-Vodakova from the years 1960-96. Tin vases of the most various shapes and an exhibit of silver jewels form her psychological work. Both exhibits will last till May 12. Lucie Dvorakova/Klara Schirova SPORT Preparation For the Hockey World Championship In the penultimate warm-up before the World Championship, the Czech national team went to Sweden. In the first match in Stockholm, they tied the Swedes 3:3, after the Swedes equalized in a power play 63 seconds before the end of match. Goals: Karlson, Johanson, Gustafsson - Vejvoda, Kysela, M. Prochazka. The second match was won by the home team 7:3. Goals: H. Jonsson 2, Forslund, Dackel, Huusko, Modin, Bergquist - Ujcik, Dopita, Patera. The last part of the preparation took place in Ceske Budejovice, where NHL players joined the Czech team (Bonk, Neckar, Lang and M. Sykora). The Czech-Sweden match will open the championship April 21. Final Exhibition Match (played after Carolina's April 18 deadline): Czech Republic - Canada 6:3 Adam Kotalik/Jitka Hejtmanova UEFA Cup Finals The UEFA Cup semifinal saw the end of the Slavia Praha team's ambitions. After the 0:1 home loss to the French team Girondins Bordeaux, Slavia lost again by the same score April 16. In front of 32,000 people the home team started more actively and in the seventh minute the Czech goalie Stejskal had already caught Bordeaux's third shot. Like the first match, Slavia's defense was tested most by the French tandem of Duggary - Zidane. After a goal-less first half, the home team started to win. In the 47th minute, Tholot scored. After two losses, Slavia did not make the final, but its performance was not disappointing. The final opponents of Girondins Bordeaux will be Bayern Munchen. Jan Palicka/Jitka Hejtmanova In the Fight for Europe, Olomouc More Successful The 24th round of the soccer league was rich in goals as well as in spectators (43,667 altogether). In the duel of teams at the top of the standings, second-place Olomouc emerged as the winner over Jablonec and is close to participation in the European Soccer Cup. Drnovice (3rd place) - the next European Cup candidate - was able to cope with Ostrava (13th) without any problems. Slavia strenghtened its lead by defeating Ceske Budejovice (8th), Sparta (5th) is on the contrary slowly saying goodbye to the UEFA Cup due to a draw in Zlin (15th). Hradec Kralove (14th) defeated Uherske Hradiste (16th) in the fight to remain in the league. The Liberec - Plzen match was postponed. Results: Zlin - Sparta 10-1, Opava - Cheb 4-1, Brno - Zizkov 3-1, Olomouc - Jablonec 2-1, Hradec Kralove - Uherske Hradiste 2-0, Drnovice - Ostrava 3-1, Slavia - Ceske Budejovice 3-0, Liberec - Plzen postponed. Make-up from the 20th round: Liberec - Ziskov 0-0 Make-up from the 23th round: Ceske Budejovice - Hradec Kralove 0-3 Standings after 23 rounds (3 matches still unplayed): 1. Slavia 52 (-1); 2. Olomouc 49; 3. Drnovice 45; 4. Jablonec 41 (-1); 5. Sparta 39; 6. Opava 36; 7. Liberec 33 (-1); 8. Ziskov 31; 9. Ceske Budejovice 31; 10. Plzen 30 (-1); 11. Cheb 28; 12. Boby Brno 28 (-1); 13. Ostrava 26 (-1); 14. Hradec Kralove 22; 15. Zlin 18; 16. Uherske Hradiste 13. David Sprincl/Alice Ticha Czech Government Agrees with Arrangement of European Championship The government of Czech Republic agreed with the candidacy of the Czech Republic to host the European soccer championships in 2004. The Czech Republic and Austria would organize the championship. Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus also said the government supports the proposal to hold the World Championship in skiing in 2003. Jan Palicka/Jitka Hejtmanova WEATHER Hurray! Spring is here and summer is approaching. Last week we did however live through a snowstorm, and rain and cold wind. Strong storms filled rivers and the Hydrometeorological Institute feared until Sunday that the rivers might overflow their banks. In the end, nothing of the sort happened. On the contrary, the daytime temperature rose to 14 degrees Celsius/58 degrees Fahrenheit and it seems that we can count on the sun now. Maria Tripoliti/Klara Schirova English version edited by Michael Bluhm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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@cuni.cz To subscribe to CAROLINA news you send an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@listserv.cesnet.cz The text of message for subscription of the English version must be: SUBSCRIBE CAR-ENG First name Last name or for the Czech version SUBSCRIBE CAR-CS First name Last name To delete your subscription from the list of subscribers you send the following message to the address LISTSERV@listserv.cesnet.cz: SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS We ask you not to send automatic replies to our list. 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