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 232, Friday, January 31, 1997. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (January 15-22) Zieleniec Concurs with Supplemental Text to Czech-German Declaration On January 24 at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lower House of Parliament, Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec agreed to the proposal of a short text to accompany the Czech-German declaration. Such a text would need to be accepted by parliaments of both countries. Zieleniec surprised not only his party's partners in the government coalition, but also his own colleagues in the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). Until now the coalition has stood opposed to any kind of change. Further discussions on the declaration were provoked by a comment from German Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who stated at the document's signing in Prague last week that the property claims of Sudeten Germans remain open (see Carolina 231). Zieleniec sees the text as a brief formal resolution of two to three sentences which would present the declaration as a document to guide future relations and cooperation between the countries. Milos Zeman, Chairman of the lower house and Social Democrat (CSSD) leader, has other ideas. At the beginning of the week (January 27-8) in Bonn he had discussions with the leadership of the German Federal Assembly on the wording of the accompanying text. As head of a parliamentary delegation, Zeman also visited Federal President Roman Herzog, who, according to the CSSD leader, reacted favorably to the idea of a supplemental text to the declaration. Zeman also presented his three proposed versions to other German officials. According to the daily Pravo all alternatives contain three points which would affirm that: 1) neither party will burden their mutual relations with claims from the past, 2) they share a common path towards an integrated Europe, and 3) the vicious circle which divided both countries in the past has been broken. The deciding factor for the German side, however, will be the outcome of a meeting between the leaders of the largest parliamentary factions, Christian Democrat Wolfgang Schauble (CDU/CSU) and Socialist Rudolf Scharping (SPD). School Strikes Start Teachers in the Brno, Blansko, Znojmo and Nachod districts went on strike January 28. The Ministry of Education says that only 251 of the 765 schools in these districts went on strike. The first to strike were teachers and other nursery and elementary school employees, while high school and other specialty school employees were slower to strike. School unions say the number of striking schools is higher. They have demanded an increase in average salaries of 18.9 per cent. The state budget includes an increase of 12.5 per cent. The union is also demanding re-evaluated wage brackets by 1998. Education Minister Ivan Pilip says that a wage increase is only possible by economizing the school systems. The ministry has proposed reducing the number of high schools, regulating class divisions and increasing the amount of time teachers must teach. In comparison to other OECD countries, Czech teachers have the lowest amount of required hours. Elementary school teachers must teach 21-23 hours weekly, while high school vocational training school teachers must teach a 21-hour week. Less children are being born, and classes are shrinking. In 1989-90, the average class size was 27 students, now it is 22. Strikers in Znojmo sent a letter to President Vaclav Havel, reminding him of his own speeches from the 1989 revolution, and asking him to assist in this issue. In 1989, Havel called education the most valuable national treasure and emphasized that society must value its teachers, Perhaps they believe he can use his authority to help solve problems in the schools: salaries of school employees, the overwhelming majority of female teachers and the increasing average age of the teaching staffs. The letter also mentions the growing number of students with behavioral and learning problems. The strike should continue each Tuesday and Thursday until the end of March, when union leaders will evaluate its success. Private schools and universities will not join the strike. First Medical School Calls for Minister's Resignation The Research Board, the executive arm of Charles University's First Medical School, and the management of the General University Hospital are calling for the resignation of Health Minister Jan Strasky and his deputies. They blame him for the financial problems that led to medications not being restocked by hospitals because pharmacies refuse to sell to them on credit. They began to demand the resignations when the minister announced January 28 that he was forbidding them to invest their own finances, except in emergency, without the ministry's approval. Supplies had pressed creditors to begin bankrupcy proceedings against the General Faculty Hospital and the Motol Faculty Hospital. Strasky refused the Association of Large Hospitals' demand that the state pay the debt. He saidit is mostly the fault of the hospitals' management. Wagner Out of CSSD Again, Buzkova Saves Machovec Josef Wagner has been expelled from the Social Democrats (CSSD) January 24 for the second time in two weeks. Wagner is a member of Parliament and chairman of the Budget Committee. Wagner and Tomas Teplik were expelled from CSSD December 14, when they supported the government's proposal for the 1997 state budget (see Carolina 228). Roughly one month after his expulsion, the Dubi nad Teplicku branch of CSSD accepted him as a member (see Carolina 230), ignoring the CSSD Executive Board's decision. The board says that an organization must ask for the approval of the party club in Parliament, if they want to accept a Deputy of Parliament. When Wagner recieved the news that the executive board had once again revoked his party membership, he said "I reject the Executive Board's decision as a show of political ill-will and not of law." He had been publicly speaking out againsst CSSD Chairman Milos Zeman, even saying Zeman was implementing Stalinist practices in the party. CSSD Vice-Chairwoman Petra Buzkova saved Karel Machovec from expulsion from the position of co-vice-chairman of the party. She proposed that her resignation should be the next to be discussed, because like Machovec, Wagner and Teplik she supports the the budget proposal. Most members rejected the proposal to expel Buzkova, voted in a January poll the most popular Czech politician. Popular Politicians The Czech Center for Empirical Research (STEM) conducted a poll in January which showed the most popular politician to be Petra Buzkova, Vice-Chairwoman of Parliament and of the Social Democrat party. She was supported by 69.5 per cent of respondents. She was even more favored among CSSD members than Milos Zeman, the party chairman. Pavel Simonek from STEM believes that the public favors Buzkova due to her recent motherhood, and because she did not participate in the recent internal CSSD skirmishes. Trade Minister Vladimir Dlouhy follows Buzkova, only half a point behind. Minister of Foreign Affairs Josef Zieleniec takes third with 68 per cent. Head of the CSSD Parliament Club Stanislav Gross takes fourth with 56 per cent and Josef Lux, Christian Democrat Chairman and Agriculture Minister, comes in fifth with 51 per cent. Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus takes sixth with 49 per cent, while his greatest opponent, Zeman, has slipped to eighth place with with 43 per cent. Minister of Justice Jan Kalvoda holds seventh place with 48 per cent. Minister of Health Jan Strasky and Minister of Finance Ivan Kocarnik complete the top 10 with 43 per cent. STEM conducts a monthly poll of 26 politicians' popularity. They exclude President Vaclav Havel. Incident in Republican Parliamentary Club Offices On January 21 Czech police entered the Parliament club offices of the neo-fascist Republican Party (SPR-RSC) in order to capture Lubomir Votava, who has been sought throughout the country; Votava was not found. Votava, Republican Chairman Miroslav Sladek's assistant (though Votava is not a member of Parliament and thus does not have parliamentary immunity), has been charged with assaulting TV NOVA reporter Marek Vitek at a demonstration October 28, 1994. In June 1996, Votava was taken into custody for evading criminal prosecution. After a month and a half he was released from custody on the basis of a guarantee from Republican deputies; however, after that he appeared in court once only, and therefore the District Court of Prague 1 filed a warrant for his arrest. Members of Parliament mostly condemned the police intervention. "I think Parliament should be at least as sacred as universities or churches," ODA Parliament club Chairman Ivan Masek said, according to MF DNES. Interior Minister Jan Ruml admitted the intervention had been inappropriate, and advised the Police President Oldrich Tomasek not to force the police to nab Votava at any price. Votava had probably been hiding in the Republican Party offices since January 20. Although he was not to be found during the raid, a few witnesses saw him at the offices at night again, and he probably stayed in the building the following days. Police say they did not search every room. Havel Pardons Martin Odlozil On January 24 President Vaclav Havel granted a pardon to Martin Odlozil, who had been sentenced to four years in prison for causing the death of his father, former Olympic medalist Josef Odlozil. Presidential spokesman Ladislav Spacek said, "The constitution authorizes the president to grant anyone a pardon." The president can use this authority without providing any explanation. The Odlozil case attracted much public attention, and opinions on the president's decision differ. According to the press, it is possible to think the pardon has been granted out of respect for the defendant's mother - former post-1989 adviser of the president and famed Czech female athlete Vera Caslavska, who suffered a breakdown and continues undergoing treatment at the Bohnice Psychiatric Center. To support Martin Odlozil, the Solomon Association for Support of Independent Justice organized a petition, which was signed by Czech noble-family descendant Karel Schwarzenberg, four-time Olympic gold medalist Emil Zatopek or Social Democrat Parliament Deputy Pavel Dostal. Josef Odlozil's sisters Miloslava Sevcikova and Marie Jakubikova and his widow Eva protested Havel's decision. Havel granted 77 pardons last year. Many Pay Tribute to Memory of Olga Havlova In memory of former first lady Olga Havlova, who died at 62 of cancer last January 27, her widower President Vaclav Havel and his new wife Dagmar brought a bouquet of daisies to her grave at the Vinohrady Cemetery on the anniversary of Olga's death. Many people came to pay tribute to Havlova with candles and flowers. The Czech public perceived Havlova as the nation's most significant female personality. A majority of the people appreciated the former first lady particularly as the founder of the Good Will Committee, by means of which she helped the needy for six years. NEWS IN BRIEF * On January 23 the Senate for the first time used its authority to returned a bill (the Water Act) for further discussion to the lower house of Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies. * On January 27 Czech Railways introduced a new type of express train, the SuperCity Manager, the highest-quality train in the Czech Republic, connecting Ostrava with Prague without any stops. The train has a riding time of 4 hours 10 minutes, ticket price 350 crowns including a snack, newspapers, and it is possible to make phone calls from the train and to use a computer. The price for the regular express train on the same route is 156 crowns. FROM SLOVAKIA More Than 200,000 Citizens Want Direct Election of President More than 200,000 people have signed a petition for direct election of the Slovak president, a drive organized by the opposition Blue Alliance three weeks ago. The chairmen of the Blue Alliance's parties (Christian Democratic Movement, Democratic Party, Democratic Union) are "in competition" for signatures. Not only in Bratislava, but in all larger towns Slovaks can sign the petition. It seems the 350,000 signatures needed for a referendum will be collected by the end of this week. This is not the only petition going around Slovakia. For example, Robert Krajnak, a businessman from Bratislava, has been collecting signatures for the recall of Premier Vladimir Meciar for a few months. He had gathered 274,000 signatures by January 22. Also, opponents of Jan Slota, Chairman of the right-wing Slovak National Party and Mayor of Zilina, are not far behind. They want to remove his parliamentary immunity for his race-bashing and instigation of race riots. The creator of the petition is M. Balaz, a spokesman of the Romany (gypsy) community in the town of Prievidza. He has collected about 60,000 signatures. The petition fad has not missed the education sphere, where teachers have asked for salary increases for some months, with no results. Antonin Polach, Vice-Chairman of the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers, has not ruled out using the method of their Czech colleagues - the school strike. Democratic Left-Wing Party Considers Shortening President's Term The Party of the Democratic Left-wing Party is ready to discuss with the ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia the shortening of the mandate of Slovak President Michal Kovac. The discussion is contingent on the agreement of the Movement on direct election of a new president. Kovac's term ends in March 1998. With the current balance of power in the Slovak National Assembly, there is no candidate for the post of president who would garner the necessary votes. Three months after Kovac's mandate ends assembly elections are scheduled, after which there could be nobody to receive the resignation of the government. Other opposition parties resolutely reject discussion of abbreviating the president's term. "We could consider such a possibility only for technical reasons that presidential elections would be held regularly at the same time," said Jozef Moravcik, Chairman of Democratic Union. He said it is not unthinkable that the direct election of the head of the country could be held at the end of this year. ECONOMY 1996 Czech Foreign Trade Balance in Deficit of 160.3 Billion Crowns The Czech foreign trade balance reached a deficit of 160.3 billion crowns for 1996 (in 1995 101.7 billion crowns). Imports for 1996 were 755.3 billion crowns and exports 595 billion crowns. Reasons for the gap might lie with companies and the insuffient productivity of the Czech economy, wrote daily Lidove noviny. In exports the share of industrial consumer goods increased the most (14.9 per cent), machine and transportation exports close behind. Czechs may be cheered, however, by decreases in exports of raw materials, semi-finished goods and chemical products. In 1996 imports of machines and transportation means continued quick their rapid increase (an increase of 16.1 per cent), their share of total import at 38.2 per cent (automobiles at 7.8 per cent). The rate of increase also gathered speed in imports of agricultural and food products, raw materials, semi-finished goods and chemical products. These spheres make up 43.3 per cent of total imports. For 1997 experts estimate a foreign trade deficit of 200 billion crowns. Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from January 30) country currency ------------------------------------------ Great Britain 1 GBP 45.069 France 1 FRF 5.005 Japan 100 JPY 22.781 Canada 1 CAD 20.802 Austria 1 ATS 2.401 Slovakia 100 SKK 85.663 Germany 1 DEM 16.894 Switzerland 1 CHF 19.553 USA 1 USD 27.922 ECU 1 XEU 32.746 SDR 1 XDR 38.860 CULTURE Febiofest Film Festival Again in Prague Febiofest, a film festival that chooses movies on the basis of quality, ran for the fourth time in Prague last week. New films directed by Neil Jordan, Barry Levinson, Barbra Streisand and the directorial debuts of actors Tom Hanks and Al Pacino were presented to Czech audiences for the first time. Also, new works from Czech filmmakers are attracting attention of movie fans. Czech film and TV production was partly represented by Boomerang, a story based on fact of political prisoners working at a uranium mine in the 1950's. The film, directed by Hynek Bocan, opened the festival. Several young Czech directors made thier debuts - Lea, from Ivan Fila, is already well known after it was awarded prizes abroad. Febiofest also takes audience back to the years of totalitarianism as it screens special "masterpieces" of the socialist realism school. Organizers annually select awardwinning films for their Kristian award. The Kristian for the best Czech film of 1996 was awarded to Kolya by Jan Sverak (see below). Best documentary was won by Paper Heads from Slovak director Dusan Hanak, Paper Heads the story of Czechoslovak reality since World War II. The best animated short film was Aurel Klimt's Maskin Killed Koskin. The idea of the festival comes from Fero Fenic, director and head of production company Febio. Since 1994 Febiofest has become more and more popular throughout the Czech Republic. Many towns around the nation will host the festival in coming weeks. IN BRIEF * Slovak actors Milan Lasica and Julius Satinsky signed their new book L&S January 24 in the Slovak Institute in Prague. The book of short stories, dialogues, sketches and pictures has become a bestseller in Slovak bookstores. In its first eight days on the shelf, 9,000 copies of the book were sold. The popular comedians intend to publish another two volumes soon. * Jan and Zdenek Sverak, father-and-son filmmakers responsible for the film Kolya, returned from three weeks in the United States. They gave 126 interviews and visited 20 American cities. Kolya was awarded the Golden Globe, awarded by Hollywood film critics, for best foreign film of 1996 (see Carolina 231). The success helps their chances to be awarded an Oscar in the category. * Czech-born director Milos Forman's former wife, actress Jana Brejchova (One Night At Karlstejn, Higher Tenet) married actor Jiri Zahajsky January 24. It is her fourth marriage, after divorces from Forman, German actor Ulrich Tein and Czech actor Vlastimil Brodsky, respectively. SPORT Sparta Praha Fourth in EHL The Finnish team TPS Turku won the European Hockey League (EHL) while Sparta Praha took fourth place, in other words last in the final group in the first-year European club team competition. Second and third places were taken by the Russian team Dynamo Moskva and Swedish champs Frolunda, respectively. The best four European hockey teams advanced into the finale in Finland from the international groups. The organizers hope that the EHL winner could meet the Stanley Cup winner or another quality NHL team in the near future. Results: Sparta - TPS Turku 3-5, Sparta - Frolunda 3-4, TPS Turku - Dynamo Moskva 5-2. Czech Hockey Extraleague Results of the 37th round (January 22-4): Sparta - Zlin 9-5, Vsetin - Slavia 11-1, Plzen - Vitkovice 3-3, Ceske Budejovice - Litvinov 2-2, Trinec - Jihlava 3-3, Opava - Olomouc 0-3, Kladno - Pardubice 4-4. Results of the 38th round (January 26): Pardubice - Ceske Budejovice 1-4, Zlin - Vsetin 1-6, Jihlava - Litvinov 6-5, Slavia - Kladno 1-2, Olomouc - Plzen 3-3, Trinec - Opava 5-6. Results of the 39th round (January 28): Ceske Budejovice - Slavia 4-1, Litvinov - Pardubice 3-0, Opava - Jihlava 1-6, Sparta - Olomouc 8-8, Kladno - Zlin 2-6, Plzen - Trinec 6-2, Vsetin - Vitkovice 4-1. Standings after the 39th round: 1. Vsetin 55, 2. Sparta (-2) 47, 3. Vitkovice (-1) 46, 4. Pardubice 44, 5. Kladno 42, 6. Trinec 41, 7. Litvinov 41, 8. Ceske Budejovice 39, 9. Zlin 37, 10. Olomouc 34, 11. Slavia 33, 12. Plzen (-1) 32, 13. Jihlava 30, 14. Opava 21. Czech Gymnastics Bids Farewell to One of Its Stars On January 23 former gymnast and Olympian Alois Hudec died at the age of 88. He first entered sport history by winning five gold medals at the 1931 World Championships. The high point of his career was his victory at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Pole Vaulter Bartova Twice Breaks World Indoor Record Twice in recent days the women's world indoor pole-vaulting record has been broken by Czech Daniela Bartova. With her January 27 feat of 431 cm in Reykyavik, Iceland, the 22-year-old athlete improved on her own four-day-old record by 1 cm, which she had set at the Prague Poles Winter Meet. While it is true that the holder of the overall record of 440 cm is Australian Emman George, her world-best performance in Melbourne will likely not be recognized because the jumping area did not meet required specifications. WEATHER If anybody was deceived by the January 26 sun and sent his winter coat to the cleaner's, he probably froze last week. Night temperatures fluctuate between -4 degrees to -10 degrees Celsius/26 degrees to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, daytime temperatures climbed to -4 degrees to 1 degree Celsius/26 degrees to 34 degrees Fahrenheit. Light snow is forecasted for the rest of the week. Skis should definitely not be put into the closet. CREDITS Domestic news was translated by Andy Faust, Andrea Snyder and Denisa Vitkova. News from Slovakia was translated by Magdalena Vanova, Economy and Culture by Jan Majer and Sports were translated by Andy Faust and Milan Smid. Smid also translated the weather. Edited by Michael Bluhm. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ANNOUNCING: The International Study Program of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Beginning in February 1997, a one-semester English-language program will be offered twice a year in Central and Eastern European Studies, with a selection of courses in modern history and recent political and economic developments in the region. Some courses are also available in German. For further information contact Cyril Simsa at: E-mail-- svoz@mbox.fsv.cuni.cz Phone-- 42/2/2481 0804 Fax-- 42/2/2481 0987 When e-mailing, please include a regular mailing address so an information packet can be sent without delay. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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