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 261, Friday, October 17, 1997. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (October 8 - 15) Klaus and Meciar Meet The meeting between Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and Slovak Premier Vladimir Meciar in Piestany, Slovakia was touted in the Czech press as a historical event. These were the first bilateral talks between the counterparts in more than four years. The meeting resulted in a declaration to agree by the end of the year on the exchange of federal property, to be conducted by two banks; the Czech Commerce Bank (Komercni banka) and the Slovak General Credit Bank (Vseobecna uverova banka). In the context of the agreement, Prague will turn over more than four tons of Slovak gold by January. However, no answers were found for any of the other debt issues between the two countries, such as Slovakia's debt to the Czech Republic of 24 million crowns. Although there were no specific breakthroughs in the property issues, other areas of discussion were more successful. Meciar and Klaus support the customs union and signed three agreements to support and protect investment, air traffic, and healthcare. Klaus also spoke in support of the Slovak Republic's efforts to join the EU and NATO. Ales Bartl/Andrea Snyder Hungarian President in Prague Hungarian President Arpad Goncz met with Czech political leaders to discuss closer cooperation between Prague and Budapest, a strategy that would allow the countries to better push common interests in NATO and the EU. Goncz's three-day visit to Prague, which began October 13, was his first in four years. He met with President Vaclav Havel, Senate Chairman Petr Pithart and Parliament Chairman Milos Zeman. Jana Ciglerova/Andrea Snyder Defense Ministers Support NATO Entry Czech Minister of Defense Miloslav Vyborny met with Hungarian counterpart Gyorg Keleti and the Polish Defense Minister's First Deputy Andrzej Karkoszka October 11 in Komorni Hradek u Benesova, near Prague. They confidently discussed their respective countries' NATO membership and see no problems with ratification of the acceptance of new members in the parliaments of individual NATO countries. The defense leaders of all three countries invited to join NATO agree on the necessity to intensify cooperation with Eastern Europe, especially with Romania, Slovenia, Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic states and Slovakia. Eva Fronkova/Andrea Snyder Security Policies and the Battle against Illegal Migration Illegal migration and crime were the main topics at a two-day conference held October 14-15 by the Interior Ministry in Prague. Speakers gathered from nearly all of Europe, the United States, Australia and Canada. In 1996 alone, 20,000 illegal border crossings were documented in the Czech Republic. Three thousand of them were assisted by professional border-crossing guides, a new development in the words of Interior Minister Jan Ruml, who called upon neighboring countries for cooperation. Although Canada's recent decision to reinstate visa requirements for Czechs is cause for lament, the Czech Interior Ministry recommends that visa requirements be reinstated for citizens of the former Soviet Union and southeastern Europe. They cite security interests as the reason. The Trade Ministry and the Foreign Ministry are less aggressive, and point out the Czech Republic's political and business interests. Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus said the proposal is being carefully reviewed. Katerina Murlova/Andrea Snyder Havel Says Czech Republic Entering Europe More Slowly Than Others At the October 11 European Council summit, President Vaclav Havel criticized the Czech Republic's pace in approaching Euro-Atlantic standards. Havel said Czech laws lag far behind European legislation, despite the country's efforts to join NATO and the EU. The Czech Republic has ratified 39 European Council norms, while neighboring countries have managed 40 to 50, some more. According to Havel, this overlap demonstrates the country's situation. The president said that in the rush of managing everyday practical problems, the Czech Republic has lost sign of the meaning of the most important and elementary values, from which everything else develops. Ludvik Pospisil/Denisa Vitkova Klaus and Havel Talk about Czech Entry into NATO At an October 8 meeting with Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, President Vaclav Havel admitted his fears that the Czech Republic's membership in NATO will be delayed by the army's unsatisfactory condition. They concurred that personnel changes in Defense Ministry leadership are necessary. "I think if any changes should be made, they should be made once, and we should not have the public nervous and in suspense with slow and lazy changes", said Havel in the October 9 edition of daily MF DNES. Another criterion which will decide the country's entry to NATO is public support, which hovers at just more than 50 per cent. However, the sociologist Ivan Gabal said for the daily that "NATO will accept us foremost for political reasons and in spite of the army's pathetic situation and the country's ability to defend itself." Lenka Jindrlova/Denisa Vitkova Probable Escape from Punishment for Former Communist Leadership The last of former Communist officials accused of treason, Karel Hoffmann, was found innocent by the High Court. In August 1968, after the invasion of Warsaw Pact armies, as director of the Central Communications Administration it was Hoffmann who discontinued all broadcasting. Eleven people have been accused of treason in connection with the 1968 invasion. The prosecution of Karel Hoffmann, Milos Jakes, Jozef Lenart and General Rusov was stopped, and Jan Piller died in 1995. The other six accused, secret police agents who collaborated with invaders, were found innocent in August. The possibility of opening a new case against them is seen by some in the 1993 decision of the Constitutional Court, which confirmed the Anti-Communist Act. That law enables an extension of the 20-year statute of limitations if charges of treason could not have been investigated because of the political situation. Gabriela Podzimkova/Gabriela Pecic Supreme Court: Attacking Romanies Is Racism The Supreme Court decided October 13 that anti-Romany (Gypsy) attacks are race-based. The court received the case after a complaint from Justice Minister Vlasta Parkanova lodged against the June verdict of District Court in Hradec Kralove. District Judge Perina let off two skinheads accused under strict anti-racist laws of threatening a group of Romany children, his argument being that racism was impossible because Czechs and Romanies are Indo-European races. The verdict aroused an enormous wave of protest from lawyers and ethnologists. They call the Supreme Court verdict a precedent for similar future cases. Jakub Svab/Nora Novakova ODA Poll Preference Drops below 5 Per Cent With a voter preference of 4 per cent, the governing coalition member Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) could be left out of the next Parliament (Czech voting laws set a 5-per-cent minimum for representation in Parliament). According to October's polls taken by the Institute for Public Opinion Research (IVVM), the opposition Social Democrats finished first with 26 per cent, followed by the ruling Civic Democratic Party with 20 percent. Compared to the previous poll, support for Communists has risen from 6.5 per cent to 8.5 per cent, while the Christian Democrats slipped from 12 per cent to 10 per cent. The popularity of the neo-Fascist Republican remains unchanged at 4.5 per cent. IVVM analyst Pavel Simonik, referring to ODA's 4 per cent, said it is the logical result of bitter disagreements, encouraged by the media, within the smallest parliamentary party. Lenka Vochocova/Sofia Karakeva Havel Accepts Cino del Duca Price On October 9 President Vaclav Havel received the international Cino del Duca Prize in the Elysees Palace in Paris. French President Jacques Chirac said Havel received the prize not only as a playwright but that the prize was an homage to his courage, intelligence and spiritual strength. The prize, named for an Italian publisher, has been awarded since 1969 to persons whose scientific or literary work reflects the message of modern humanism. Pedro Afanador/Veronika Machova First Lady Cancels Long-Planned Trip to Taiwan First Lady Dagmar Havlova's biggest foreign trip was unexpectedly canceled October 8. Havlova was to spend a week in Taiwan, from October 19-26. The journey, planned since May, was aborted at the last minute without any explanation. Czech daily Lidove noviny, which broke the story, cited a Chinese diplomat in Prague, who said the political dimension of Havlova's visit does not contribute to economic relations. Jana Ciglerova/Veronika Machova FROM SLOVAKIA Radio Twist Broadcasting Forcibly Interrupted The broadcasting of Radio Twist suddenly stopped on the afternoon of October 13. Shortly thereafter a fax arrived at the Bratislava station declaring Slovak Telecommunications' (ST) withdrawal from its contract with Twist. The fax was signed by Gabriel Szanto, director of Radiotelecommunication. The fax cited Twist's non-fulfillment of the contract as the reason for withdrawal, despite the fact that Twist had fulfilled the contract properly. Broadcasting was renewed the next day. Because Radio Twist opposes the government, its general manager Andrej Hryc considered the interruption a political act. "The management and owners of Radio Twist consider ST's move a gross breach of contract and a serious breach in the system of plurality in Slovakia," he said in an interview for the daily Pravda. According to the SITA agency, many private radio station broadcasts have been interrupted, such as Radio Rebeka in Martin, or N Radio in Nitra. Although the greatest debtors to ST are Slovak Radio and Slovak Television, both still state-owned, they have not been threatened with sanctions. Paula Majerova/Ajla Zinhasovic ECONOMY September Inflation at 10.3 per cent The highest inflation rate in the last two years was recorded in September - 10.3 per cent from the same period last year. One year ago Czech economists still supposed that inflation was going to decrease continuously by 1 per cent yearly, and in May the inflation rate dropped to a record low of 6.3 per cent. The reversal came with the deregulation of trading with the Czech crown in May, and with the July partial deregulation of rents and energy prices. Some economists think positive prospects for the Czech crown lie in quick deregulation of the remaining regulated prices, after which a one-time, steep inflation increase would likely be followed by a more rapid and controllable decrease in inflation. Jaroslav Mares/Milan Smid Czech Privatization Is Half-Baked, Study Says The Czech economy is lacking bankruptcies, a transparent capital market and thoroughly and well privatized industrial and banking sectors. That is the conclusion of an in-house study on privatization in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic made by the North Atlantic Assembly, and published by Czech media October 14. The Czech Republic was judged the worst of these three countries in the study. The main point is that Czech enterprises have not been restructured yet. The non-transparency of the Czech capital market caused last year's exodus of foreign investors, the study said. The NATO parliamentary assembly is of the opinion that in the Czech Republic a large number of inefficient companies are being preserved because of a policy of maintaining low unemployment rate and the absence of bankruptcies. Jaroslav Mares/Milan Smid National Power Buys almost Half of Opatovice Power National Power, the biggest producer of electricity on the British Isles, entered the Czech market with the purchase of almost half of the shares of Opatovice Power Stations (Elektrarny Opatovice). Opatovice Power is the most important independent power producer in the country. The British company beat out nine rival firms, including the giant CEZ (Czech Energy Company). According to Commerce Bank (Komercni banka) spokeswoman Irena Satavova, the purchase of 48 per cent of Opatovice Power, which cost National Power 5.3 billion crowns, is the largest British investment in the Czech Republic. Experts said the British firm is building a base for further acquisitions in the Czech power industry. It is expected that energy-price increases - full deregulation is not yet a reality - will attract more foreign investors. Tomas Mls/Veronika Machova Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from October 17) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 23.978 Belgium 100 BEF 90.417 Great Britain1 1 GBP 52.748 Denmark 1 DKK 4.895 Finland 1 FIM 6.213 France 1 FRF 5.563 Ireland 1 IEP 47.892 Italy 1000 ITL 19.069 Japan 100 JPY 27.007 Canada 1 CAD 23.448 Luxemburg 100 LUF 90.417 Hungary 100 HUF 16.723 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.558 Norway 1 NOK 4.618 New Zealand 1 NZD 20.971 Poland 1 PLN 9.598 Portugal 100 PTE 18.315 Austria 1 ATS 2.650 Greece 100 GRD 11.854 Slovakia 100 SKK 97.291 Germany 1 DEM 18.650 Spain 100 ESP 22.111 Sweden 1 SEK 4.303 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.352 USA 1 USD 32.556 ECU 1 XEU 36.593 SDR 1 XDR 44.557 CULTURE Dog Swimming through a Flooded Street Wins Czech Press Photo 97 Prize The picture Dog Swimming through a Flooded Street from Petr Josek, taken by the Reuters photographer in Uherske Hradiste during July's floods, has been named photo of the year. The international committee, headed by photographer Andrej Reiser, awarded prizes in 16 categories. Josek's photo of the year also won the recent event category. The Prague Grant was awarded to Karel Kuklik. His task for the next year will be to picture disappearing and continually changing Prague. There were 202 Czech and Slovak authors in the competition, submitting 2,554 pictures. The best pictures will be on exhibit in the Cross Corridor and the Knight's Hall in the Old Town Hall from November 13 till December 31. Erik Tabery/Ivona Pulkrabkova Jaroslav Seifert Prize to Karel Milota The 1997 edition of the prestigious Jaroslav Seifert Prize was given October 14 to 60-year-old poet, writer, translator and critic Karel Milota. He acquired the prize for his prose work The Devil's House (Dabluv dum) and for his collection of poems Anthologies or Counterpoint (Antologie aneb Protislovi). The decision of the nine-member committee, with Vladimir Karfik at its head, was considered surprising. The result praises a work which was not given public interest in accordance with its quality and importance. The Jaroslav Seifert Prize, named for the Czech Nobel laureate, has been awarded by the Charter 77 Foundation since 1986 and among its winners are Ludvik Vaculik, Jiri Kolar, Bohumil Hrabal and Milan Kundera. Since 1993 the literary honor has been sponsored by the bank Zivnostenska banka with a 250,000-crown award for the winner. Petr Bilek Jr./Ivona Pulkrabkova Bauhaus in Prague The exhibit Wiemar Bauhaus and the European Avantgarde 1919-1925, part of the fall project Culture of Thuringen, opened in the House of the Black Madonna in Prague October 2. The largest exhibition yet of the famed art school's early era is presented on three floors of the building. Visitors can see over 200 pieces, not only from the Bauhaus movement but also from similar movements, such as the Slovak Kosice movement or the Dutch De Stijl. Pavel Turek/Veronika Machova American Dance Theater Performs in Prague and Brno The American Dance Theater ended its visit to the Czech Republic with a performance in Brno October 12. The ensemble represents the cream of modern dance and has been led by Judith Jamison since the death of troupe founder Alvin Ailey in 1989. It was the second time the ensemble visited the Czech Republic, 18 years after their premiere here. Jamison said the dancers were impressed by the warm welcome and lovely architecture of Prague, where they also performed. Ailey's followers combine the Afro-American tradition with modern dance, using musical styles from classical to jazz. Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis, Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson can be heard during a performance. Petr Bilek Jr./Matej Cerny Courtney Pine's Second Great Show in 1997 British saxophonist Courtney Pine packed Prague's Lucerna Music Bar to capacity October 8 for the second time this year. He played older songs and compositions from his latest album, Underground, released less than three months ago. Pine's show, mixing hip hop and jazz, was again extraordinary and stirring. Pine played to the crowd during his superb solos. Walking among the audience while soloing, playing without holding the saxophone, hands raised above his head, call-and-response with the crowd were just a few of his tricks. Altogether the show was artistically successful and also flamboyant - certainly a part of jazz. Pine's final thanks to those who came was a wish that jazz, hip hop and drum'n'bass should all get more respect and publicity (not excluding internet weeklies). Tomas Mls/Matej Cerny MIB Invade Prague A bombastic public relations campaign took place in Prague before the premiere of Hollywood blockbuster Men in Black October 8. Not only was it easy to get free tickets for wearing black suits (or face-paint), but the whole city was full of men in black passing out Mars bars and advertising material. The campaign was carried out exhaustively in newspapers (including the daily Metro distributed free in the subway), on the radio and on billboards as well. The extent of the campaign was a precedent for the Czech Republic. Karolina Kucerova/Sofia Karakeva SPORTS Qualification for 1998 World Cup: Czechs Defeat Slovakia 3:0 The Czech national soccer team defeated Slovakia 3:0 in Prague October 11 in its last qualification match for the 1998 World Cup in France. The Czechs finished tied with Slovakia for third in the sixth qualification group, behind Spain and Yugoslavia. While the Spaniards advanced directly to the final competition in France, the Yugoslav side will have to try to outdo rival Hungary in two playoff matches. The home team wanted to repair the bad impression left after its unsuccessful performance in the World Cup qualification. However, only the second half satisfied the quiet audience of about 5,000, with three goals scored by Smicer (54th minute), Siegl (70th) and Novotny (74th). Final standing of the sixth qualification group: 1. Spain 26 points, 2. Yugoslavia 23, 3. Czech Republic 16, 4. Slovakia 16, 5. Faroes Islands 6, 6. Malta, 0. David Kozohorsky/David Kozohorsky Jockey Vana Triumphant in Great Pardubice Steeplechase for Fifth Time Vronsky, ridden by the jockey Vana, had won by the half-way point October 12 one of the most demanding steeplechases in Europe, the Great Pardubice (Velka Pardubicka). The winner of the 107th running won the 1.12-million-crown prize. Vana won the race in the years 1987-89 and 1991 in the saddle of the legendary horse Zeleznik. Only two horses finished their race at the most feared hurdle - Taxis ditch. The whole event occured in a peaceful mood - there was no animal-rights demonstration as in previous years, but also the number of spectators was lower than in the past. Jiri Zizka/David Kozohorsky SPORTS IN BRIEF * Sparta was stunningly defeated October 14 in the 2nd round of the Czech-Moravian Football Union Cup in Mlada Boleslav 0:1 by the local Czech Football League entry (the league is two leagues below Sparta's premier league). Other top-league members failed to make the next round - Hradec Kralove has lost in a shootout to Chrudim and Olomouc was unable to stop Krnov. * The October 12 Terry Fox Run, held around Prague's Strahov dormitories, attracted 3,652 participants, contributing 240,000 crowns to the fight against cancer. Prague joined 53 other Czech cities which held the run in memory of the young Canadian, who succumbed to the disease after memorable runs. Jiri Polak/Nora Novakova WEATHER Indian summer is gone for good. Last week the weather was still quite warm with a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius/68 degrees Fahrenheit, with the sun shining in a blue sky. Over the weekend, however, it started raining again and daytime temperatures were about 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees Fahrenheit. In the mountains the first snowfall is expected soon (after deadline: it fell October 15). Those from warmer regions who are planning a visit to Prague better wait for better weather. Karolina Kucerova/Sofia Karakeva 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!