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 209, Friday, June 28, 1996. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (June 19-26) Coalition Agrees on Composition of New Government Coalition party chairmen Vaclav Klaus from the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), Josef Lux from the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-CSL) and Jan Kalvoda from the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) came to an agreement on the composition of the new government June 26. The new government will have 16 members, three less than the previous one. Eight of the ministers are from ODS, the ruling party with 68 seats in Parliament. KDU-CSL, with 18 seats in Parliament, and ODA (13 seats), will each have four places in the new regime. Four seats for ODA was called "sinfully much" by the June 26 edition of daily MF DNES. Journalist Jiri Leschtina writes that "however Klaus was pushed to the wall by the close election results, his retreat from a majority did not have to be so quick." There will be five new faces in the government, one from ODS, three from KDU-CSL and one from ODA. Two ODA government members will hold different positions. ODS Government Members Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus (age 55) Minister of Foreign Affairs Josef Zieleniec (50) and Government Vice-Chairman Minister of Finance Ivan Kocarnik (52) and Government Vice-Chairman Minister of the Interior Jan Ruml (43) Minister of Education Ivan Pilip (33) Minister of Health Jan Strasky (56) Minister of Transport Martin Riman (35) - currently head of the Frydek Mistek County Office Minister of Social Affairs Jindrich Vodicka (44) With the exception of the greenhorn Riman, the other ministers have remained in their positions. ODS ministers not re-nominated are: Vladimir Budinsky (Transportation), Karel Dyba (Economy), Jiri Novak (Justice) and Igor Nemec (minister without portfolio, though he will remain head of the Office of the Government). KDU-CSL Ministers Minister of Agriculture Josef Lux (40) Minister of Culture Jaromir Talir (46) - present Deputy Culture Minister Minister of Defense Miloslav Vyborny (44) - Parliament deputy, Chairman of the Constitutional-Legal Committee Minister for Developments of Regions and Communities Jaromir Schneider (56) - former Vice-Mayor of Zlin Only Lux maintained his previous position, while Culture Minister Pavel Tigrid (never a KDU-CSL member), Defense Minister Vilem Holan and Minister for Economic Competition Stanislav Belehradek were not nominated (Belehradek's ministry will be replaced by a non-ministerial office). ODA Ministers Minister of Industry Vladimir Dlouhy (43) Minister of Justice Jan Kalvoda (43) Minister of the Environment Jiri Skalicky (40) - previously Minister of Privatization, which was closed Minister without Portfolio Pavel Bratinka (50) - currently Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Only daily Lidove noviny rated the new cabinet composition as the biggest news story of June 27. All the remaining dailies put the Czech soccer team's victory in the Euro 96 semifinals at the top of the front page. See sport for more details. Lida Truneckova/Andrea Snyder After Deadline: Milos Zeman Elected Parliamentary Chairman Social Democratic Party Chairman Milos Zeman was elected Chairman of the Czech Parliament June 27 at the second meeting of Parliament. He received 103 "yes" votes from the quorum of 187, while his rival, parliamentary leader of the neo-fascist Republican Party Jan Vik, received 27 votes. Deputies also nominated other candidates for the position of chairman (Jiri Vlach from ODS, Josef Wagner and Zdenek Jicinsky from CSSD), though all rejected the nomination. Jiri Vlach and Jiri Honajzer (ODS), Petra Buzkova (CSSD), Jan Kasal (KDU-CSL) and Karel Ledvinka (ODA) were elected vice-chairmen. Ondrej Trunecka/Milan Smid Klaus Meets Kohl in Firenze During the June 21-2 European Union summit in Firenze, Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus met with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. "This meeting was the first sign to eliminate the media cliche about our not meeting," Klaus said June 24 to daily MF DNES, who agreed on having a telephone conversation with Kohl after the naming of the new Czech government. Jakub Konecny/Petra Sevcikova President Havel Visits Poland President Vaclav Havel requested NATO June 21 in Warsaw to express clearly how, who and when are they plan to expand. At the 13th international conference of NATO about political and military decision-making, Havel stated his wish that the Czech Republic become a full member of the alliance by 1999 (the 50th anniversary of NATO's founding), according to the June 22 edition of Czech daily Pravo. Havel later met with his Polish counterpart Alexander Kwasniewski. President Havel appeared in public for the first time after recovering from the light virus he caught three weeks ago. Jakub Konecny/Petra Sevcikova Bodenlos Leaves, Dienstbier Stays Vavrinec Bodenlos, one of the two co-chairmen of the Free Democrats-Liberal Social National Party (SD-LSNS), resigned at the party's Central Council meeting June 22. The other co-chairman, former dissident and foreign minister Jiri Dienstbier, did not follow Bodenlos' example and asked the members of the council to vote about his future. Thirty-eight "yes" votes versus twenty-three "no" votes decided Dienstbier will remain SD-LSNS chairman, at least till the fall party congress. The weekend council meeting was marked by attempts to place blame for the party's failure in last election, where SD-LSNS got only 2.05 per cent of votes. The party will have to move out from the Spalicek building at the bottom of Wenceslas Square. The City of Prague, which owns the building, is now demanding market value for the office space, once rented cheaply to the former Civic Forum in 1990. Dienstbier denied media reports that he became the only chairman of SD-LSNS, in an interview for the June 25 issue of daily Lidove noviny. The function of co-chairman was not abolished and Bodenlos has been replaced by the first vice-chairman Josef Lesak. The new first vice-chairman is Physicians' Union Club LOK Chairman Dr. David Rath, known for organizing strikes of healthcare personnel. Milan Smid/Milan Smid Small Parties, Right and Left, Change Leadership The Democratic Union (DEU) Assembly replaced Chairwoman Alena Hromadkova, who resigned after the DEU's election flop (2.8 per cent of the vote, see Carolina 207), with incumbent Vice-Chairman Ratibor Majzlik June 22. Hromadkova became honorary chairwoman, and Party Manager Petr Safranek was elected vice-chairman. The Republic Committee of the Left Bloc (election results: 1.4 per cent) took place the same day in Prague. Left Bloc Honorary Chairman Zdenek Mlynar announced his resignation because of serious health problems, meaning he does not intend to run for the Senate this fall, as expected. Jaroslav Ortman, a former parliamentary deputy, will remain chairman until the November party congress. Milan Smid/Milan Smid FROM SLOVAKIA Actor Vlado Muller Dies Popular actor Vlado Muller, known particularly from the television serial Friends of the Green Valley (Pratele zeleneho udoli), died June 20 in Bratislava at the age of 60. Vladislav Muller was a member of the New Scene in Bratislava from 1966, though he took early retirement because of an injury in 1900. Recently he had contributed to Slovak radio. His long list of film credits includes some of the Slovak cinema's most esteemed works. Viktorie Reschova/Petra Sevcikova ECONOMY Running a Household to Become More Expensive Czech households can expect an increase in expenses at the start of summer vacation. Rent will increase by 10 per cent and heat by 20 per cent to 35 per cent. Prices of electricity and gas will go up August 1. The Ministry of Finance says the changes will cost the average Czech family about 300 crowns per month. Jakub Konecny/Andrea Snyder Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from June 28) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 21.758 Belgium 100 BEF 87.898 Great Britain 1 GBP 42.573 Denmark 1 DKK 4.691 Finland 1 FIM 5.954 France 1 FRF 5.348 Ireland 1 IEP 43.810 Italy 1000 ITL 17.981 Japan 100 JPY 25.284 Canada 1 CAD 20.294 Luxemburg 100 LUF 87.898 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.131 Norway 1 NOK 4.234 New Zealand 1 NZD 18.766 Portugal 100 PTE 17.575 Austria 1 ATS 2.570 Greece 100 GRD 11.424 Slovakia 100 SKK 89.075 Germany 1 DEM 18.085 Spain 100 ESP 21.501 Sweden 1 SEK 4.171 Switzerland 1 CHF 21.957 USA 1 USD 27.611 ECU 1 XEU 34.241 SDR 1 XDR 39.782 CULTURE Prague International Film Festival 96 Begins The second Prague International Film Festival opened June 21 at the Palace of Culture, with the film Long Week by Polish director Andrzej Wajda. It is the continuation of last year's Golden Golem Festival, and the second year in a row that the International Federation of Film Directors and Producers (FIAPF) classified it as an A-category festival, which places it among the top dozen most prestigious festivals in the world. Chairing the international reviewing committee, as last year, is Swedish actor Max von Sydow. The Czech representatives on the committee are director Vera Chytilova and actor/director Jan Kacer. The festival is showing a variety of thematically connected film cycles (e.g., films from Iceland, world classics, films by Peter Greenaway or Wajda). Besides Greenaway and Wajda, other world-renowned figures to make an appearance include Annie Girardot, Nikita Michalkov, Harvey Keitel, Briggitte Fossey and Claudia Gerani. According to the words of the festival chairman, Czech celebrity Michael Kocab, the festival is directed especially towards European film, a minimum of films originating from the United States will be shown. If visiting the festival, be aware of same last minute changes - some John Schlesinger films will be shown (Marathon Man, Day of the Locust), films listed for the Blanik Theater are transfered to the Hvezda Theater. Matej Husek/Katerina Zachovalova Folkie Jan Nedved Celebrates 50th Birthday with Strahov Concert Strahov stadium, the 100,000-plus-capacity site of the mass spartakiad exercise shows, witnessed the 50th birthday party of folk legend Jan Nedved the night of June 21. The audience of about 70,000 fans was brought to a boil by the bands Fesaci, Ivan Mladek's Banjo Band and the old-Prague style Slapeto. Then Jan and Frantisek Nedved made the whole audience to come together in song from the first notes until the end of the show. Among the guests who came to congratulate Jan Nedved were Slovak pop singer Pavol Habera, Czech film and theater personalities Jiri Suchy and Zdenek Sverak. Viktorie Reschova/Katerina Zachovalova Actor Eduard Cupak Dies Multi-talented actor Eduad Cupak succumbed to serious lung illness June 23 in Prague at age 64. The Brno native studied acting at Brno's Janacek Academy of Musical Arts. In the mid-50's he came to Prague's City Theater, where he again worked in 1961 after two seasons at the S. K. Neumann Theater. The roles in which he engraved himself into theatergoers' memories include Corneill's Cid, Aramis in Planchon's Three Musketeers, or as Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice. From 1968 he dedicated himself exclusively to film, television and broadcasting. Cupak performed in many memorable Czech films (Zizkov Romance, The First Party), and also dubbed foreign films into Czech. Viktorie Reschova/Michael Bluhm SPORT Surprising Czech Soccer Team Advances into Euro 96 Final The Czech national team defeated Portugal 1-0 June 23, and secured itself a spot in the semifinal of the Euro 96 soccer championship. The match, with a minimum of scoring opportunities, was decided by the solo attack of the forward Karel Poborsky, who scored the goal by lobbing the Portugal goalie Baiu in 53th minute of the match. In the battle to get into the final, the Czechs met France June 26. After 120 minutes of goalless soccer, the match was decided by penalty kicks, when France's sixth attempt, off the foot of Pedros, was blocked by the Czech goalie Kouba and the Czech forward Kadlec cashed in at the opposite goal. The victory evoked memories of past Czechoslovak championship squads and the Czech populace responded loudly and longly. Jakub Konecny/Milan Smid 116 Czech Athletes Nominated for Atlanta The plenary meeting of the Czech Olympic Committee approved June 22 the nomination of Czech athletes for the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. The Czech Olympic team will consist of 116 athletes accompanied by 61 trainers and functionaries. The Czech Republic will be represented in its first Olympic appearance as an independent state in the following sports: track and field, boxing, sport and modern gymnastics, judo, track and rapids canoeing, swimming, fencing, beach volleyball, wrestling, cycling, yachting, table tennis, shooting, tennis, rowing, and weightlifting. Experts and the public suppose the best chances for success in Atlanta belong to Jan Zelezny (world record-holder in the javelin), Tomas Dvorak (decathlon), Jan Svorada Jr. (road cycling), Lukas Pollert, Jiri Rohan and Miroslav Simek (all rapids canoeing - slalom), Martin Doktor (track canoeing), Petr Kurka and Lubos Racansky (both shooting), and Vaclav Chalupa (rowing). Hopes in the new olympic discipline of mountain biking ride on Katerina Neumannova, who participated as a cross-country skier in the Lillehammer 1994 winter Olympics. Jakub Konecny/Milan Smid WEATHER Summer just keeps refusing to get started. It is usually cloudy and fortunately hard rains like those in Italy and Austria have not been drenching us. Although we do not have enough sun (daily temperatures during the weekend of about 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees Fahrenheit), we can survive in the city thanks to the beautiful fragrance of blooming lime trees (the Czech national tree). Jakub Konecny/Petra Sevcikova 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. You can temporarily stop receiving of Carolina by sending the command: SET CAR-ENG NOMAIL All Listserv commands should be sent to the address: LISTSERV@listserv.cesnet.cz Please, don't send commands SUB, SIGNOFF, NOMAIL etc to the address CAR-CS@listserv.cesnet.cz or CAR-ENG@listserv.cesnet.cz!