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: (+4202) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+4202) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 259, Friday, September 26, 1997. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS (September 11-24) Havel Visits Middle East Czech President Vaclav Havel began his week-long visit to the Middle East September 19. He was accompanied by his wife, Dagmar. Havel met with the leaders of Lebanon, Jordan and Israel, including Benjamin Netanyahu September 23, and Yasser Arafat the following day. The Czech president says he would like to support the peace process in the region. Zieleniec Supports UN Reform Czech Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec spoke in support of UN General Secretary Kofi Annan's proposed reforms at the UN General Assembly meeting September 22. He also backed the Security Council's possible inclusion of Germany, Japan and three third-world countries. He announced that Prague wants to further assist in the effort for world security and UN peace-keeping missions. Miroslav Macek and the Trust Crisis Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Vice Chairman Miroslav Macek published a critical booklet entitled "A Crisis in Trust" September 10, analyzing the current political situation and ODS's role in it. Macek writes that the current crisis was not caused by the economy, but by a "deep crisis of faith in the government, Parliament and the system as a whole." More than by Macek's criticism and forecast that ODS would not win the next elections, an uproar among party members was caused by the fact that the booklet, intended for internal discussion, was leaked to the press before ODS leaders could review it. The ODS Parliamentary Club met to discuss the booklet September 22 and said that the quality of the analysis was poor, while other party members said that it read like a series of newspaper stories and did not offer solutions. The ODS Executive Council will further discuss the booklet this weekend. Zantovsky to Resign? Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) Chairman Michael Zantovsky announced September 19 that will offer to resign from his post at a special party conference in November. The former ambassador to the United States cited continual conflict within the party as the reason for his decision. Although Zantovsky refused to speak with journalists for three days after his announcement, in an interview broadcast by radio station F1 September 23, he said he plans to stay involved in politics. Demonstration Yes, Strike No Union members are to demonstrate November 8 their disagreement with the government's economic and social policies, the Czech Moravian Chamber of Unions (CMKOS) announced September 23. Radical railroad workers and miners wanted to announce a general strike, but CMKOS leadership prevailed with their demonstration proposal. CMKOS Chairman Richard Falbr threatened to resign in the event of a strike. However, railway union leader Jaromir Dusek said after voting "there will be a strike. Sooner or later, after the demonstration, but there will be a strike. When everyone realizes that a demonstration is for nothing." Canada Considers Establishing Visa Because of Czech Refugees Canada, outflanked by a continuous flow of immigrating Czech Romanies (Gypsies, see Carolina 257), has not ruled out the possibility of renewing visa requirements for Czech citizens. "However, it is the last option, and the Canadian side expects the situation to be calmed down," said Canadian Embassy in Prague spokeswoman Lucie Cermakova for Carolina. So far, the Czech Embassy in Ottawa has refused to comment on this possible solution. Its spokeswoman, Nora Jurkovicova, announced that that about 1,000 Czech Romanies have applied for political asylum in Canada in 1997. During August and the first two weeks of September, more than 600 refugees flew over the ocean. Still, Canadian immigration officials have decided to accept Romanies who, in their judgment, are in the Czech Republic persecuted and confronted with insufficient police and court activity. In spite of this, dozens of Romanies have already returned home. However, most of the asylum applicants say they fear for their safety in the Czech Republic, particularly from Neo-Nazi skinhead groups. Prague City Hall Wants Taxi Fare Regulation and Stricter Laws One year after fares deregulation in Prague taxis, taxi drivers hold in their hands trumps which enable them to rob customers without practically any punishment. The deregulation made it possible, through flawed legislation, for taxi drivers to multiply fares, and even sums of more than 500 crowns per kilometer are not exceptional. City Hall is trying to establish regulation again, but the Finance Ministry, which enacted deregulation last fall, is still against it. "We consider regulation to be the very last solution for the taxi service problem," said Finance Ministry spokeswoman Ludmila Nutilova. Prague Mayor Jan Koukal said it requires, together with regulation, amendments to business and road legislation which would enable more control over taxi drivers. "The legislative changes would then entitle city hall to issue regulations which would precisely define the offenses for which taxi drivers can lose their licenses," Koukal said. Every year, based on inspections, about 10 drivers lose their licenses for committing fraud. However, since running a taxi service is a non-regulated business, the punished taxi driver has no difficulties obtaining a new license in another city. Attention in the Czech media was given September 19 to a letter from Czechs residing in the U.S.A. which called on Koukal to ensure order in the Prague taxi service as a standard for civilized countries. Among the letter's signatories were writer Iva Hercikova, movie director Milos Forman and former figure skating world champion Aja Vrzanova. The letter was signed also by former American ambassador to Prague William Luers. ECONOMY Drinkers, Smokers, Gamblers and Drivers to Make Budget Governing coalition parties have been arguing over the 1998 budget for the past two weeks, though negotiations are expected to finish up at the Cabinet meeting September 25. Ministers rejected the temporary income-tax raise considered as a kind of "flood" tax. Instead they agreed September 17 to cut expenses, including household-utilities subsidies and funds for adding on to Prague's subway system. However, Agriculture Minister Josef Lux (Christian Democrats) still insists on increasing subsidies for agriculture, and, because of imminent NATO membership, no Defense Ministry cuts are likely. Even fiscally prudent ministers from the governing Civic Democratic Party (ODS) see no more room to trim. "In several sectors we have reached the edge of the state's ability to function," Minister of Health Jan Strasky (ODS) said to daily MF DNES September 24. It appeared from the September 17 Cabinet session that the government is considering raising excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol and possibly gasoline. The government also proposed doubling the automobile-license tax (from 400 crowns to 800 crowns per year) and raising fees on gambling machines. Klaus Talks about Slowing Wage Growth at Engineering Expo Opening The 39th International Engineering Exposition began September 27 in Brno in the presence of Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus. The fair's 2,870 participating firms include about 1,200 foreign enterprises. "There is the same number of participants as before, but their exhibits are poorer and their efforts to save are visible," said Brno Expositions and Fairgrounds General Director Antonin Surka. In his speech, Klaus emphasized the government's commitment to slowing wage growth in the public sector, which he said he believes will also occur in the private sphere. "Without the slowing of nominal and real wages we cannot go further," said Klaus. "However much we want and need to start a new phase of rapid economic growth, we well know that now we cannot afford it." Skoda Plzen General Director Lubomir Soudek, a harsh Klaus critic, said about the prime minister's speech: "The prime minister unfortunately did not touch on two important areas connected with industrial development: banking, which is entirely a brake to development, and the support of exports." Who Will Control Biggest Glass Exporter? The attorney hired by some members of the board of directors of Skloexport Liberec filed a criminal complaint against Chairwoman of the Board Regina Razlova September 17. Razlova, a former actress, is said in the complaint to be illegally transferring Skloexport's assets to the Skloexport Group (SEG), in which she is also board chairwoman. Those who hired the attorney were replaced at an extraordinary general meeting September 20. The new board claims that all transactions were legal, including the transfer of a small chateau in downtown Liberec estimated to be worth 100 million crowns. On September 23, Czech Television announced Razlova left the country. Her whereabouts were not specified. Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from September 25) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 23.989 Belgium 100 BEF 90.483 Great Britain 1 GBP 53.798 Denmark 1 DKK 4.904 Finland 1 FIM 6.258 France 1 FRF 5.558 Ireland 1 IEP 48.884 Italy 1000 ITL 19.141 Japan 100 JPY 27.798 Canada 1 CAD 23.950 Luxembourgh 100 LUF 90.483 Hungary 100 HUF 16.984 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.579 Norway 1 NOK 4.612 New Zealand 1 NZD 21.226 Poland 1 PLN 9.706 Portugal 100 PTE 18.373 Austria 1 ATS 2.654 Greece 100 GRD 11.824 Slovakia 100 SKK 97.606 Germany 1 DEM 18.670 Spain 100 ESP 22.136 Sweden 1 SEK 4.384 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.721 USA 1 USD 33.289 ECU 1 XEU 36.669 SDR 1 XDR 45.173 CULTURE Second Try for Prague German Theater Festival The second-annual Prague German Theater Festival began with a gala opening, attended by President Vaclav Havel and many foreign dignitaries at the Estates Theater (Stavovske divadlo) September 12. The festival will last till September 30, and 16 theater ensembles from Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Switzerland and the Czech Republic will perform. The first performance of the festival was Goethe's Faust, staged the Czech National Theater. This performance was also a comeback for the director of the play, Otomar Krejca, who returned to the stage of the top Czech theater after 30 years. Critics praised the scenography of Josef Svoboda, as well as the acting of Jan Hartl as Faust, Boris Roesner as Mephisto and Zuzana Stivinova as Marketa, but reviews seemed rather polite and showed a certain disappointment at the monumental but cold style chosen by Krejca, himself something of a Czech drama monument. Rudolf Rokl Died At age 55, pianist and composer Rudolf Rokl died in Prague September 23 after a long illness. He studied piano at the Academy of Arts under Professor Rauch and performed as a jazz pianist since age 15. Besides jazz and pop music, he was interested by classical music as well. Rokl was best known as the pianist of Ladislav Staidl's orchestra or as the accompanist of pop music stars Karel Gott and Jitka Zelenkova. SPORT Czech Volleyballers Sixth in European Championships Czech volleyballers brought home a sixth-place finish from the European Championships, which ended September 14 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. In their final group, they beat Slovakia 3:0, but fell to the Russians 0:3. The Czechs' finish among Europe's best teams was unexpected, while the Dutch convincingly won the title. Soccer Extraleague: Sparta on Top Results of the 6th round (September 12-14): Slavia - Sparta 0-1, Drnovice - Hradec Kralove 1-0, Liberec - Olomouc 1-0, Opava - Brno 1-1, Lazne Bohdanec - Teplice 1-2, Ceske Budejovice - Plzen 1-1, Dukla - Zizkov 0-0, Ostrava - Jablonec 2-2. Extraleague Standings 1. Sparta 6 6 0 0 14:4 18 2. Slavia 6 3 2 1 12:4 11 3. Ostrava 6 2 4 0 11:8 10 4. Olomouc 6 3 1 2 6:3 10 5. Liberec 6 3 1 2 8:7 10 6. Jablonec 6 2 3 1 6:6 9 7. Brno 6 2 2 2 10:8 8 8. Teplice 6 2 2 2 7:7 8 9. Drnovice 6 2 2 2 7:7 8 10. Hradec Kral. 6 2 2 2 4:9 8 11. Opava 6 1 4 1 9:9 7 12. Plzen 6 2 1 3 5:6 7 13. C. Budejovice 6 1 3 2 6:8 6 14. Dukla 6 1 2 3 5:8 5 15. Zizkov 6 0 3 3 1:5 3 16. Laz. Bohdanec 6 0 0 6 1:13 0 Results of European Cups Soccer Games Champions Extraleague: Sparta Praha - AC Parma 0-0 (September 17) Cup Winners Cup: Slavia Praha - FZ Luzern 4-2 (September 18) Hockey Extraleague - Favorites Win Results of the 8th round (September 23): Kladno - Vitkovice 8-4, Opava - Zlin 3-3, Vsetin - Jihlava 6-2, Trinec - Litvinov 2-2, Pardubice - Ceske Budejovice 6-2, Plzen - Slavia 2-1, Sparta - Karlovy Vary 5-3. Standings after the 8th round: 1. Sparta - 11 points, 2. Vitkovice - 11, 3. Litvinov - 10, 4. Plzen - 10. 5. Vsetin - 10. 6. Zlin - 9, 7. Slavia - 8, 8. Pardubice - 8, 9. Trinec - 8, 10. Kladno - 8, 11. Jihlava - 7, 12. Opava - 6, 13. Ceske Budejovice - 4, 14, Karlovy Vary - 2. WEATHER Indian Summer in the Czech Republic continues. Morning temperatures do get down to 5 degrees Celsius/41 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the mountains one can find frost, but afternoons still see people walking coatless under sunny and cloudless skies in temperatures up to 20 degrees Celsius/68 degrees Fahrenheit - as if nature used up its share of clouds and water during July's floods. The articles in this issue were written by Jakub Prochazka, Jiri Fremuth and Milan Smid, and were translated into English by Andrea Snyder, Denisa Vitkova, Magdalena Vanova and Michael Bluhm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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