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 262, Friday, October 24, 1997. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (October 15 - 22) Zieleniec Leaves Political Posts Josef Zieleniec, who stands in the polls as the ruling Civic Democratic Party's (ODS) and the governing coalition's most popular member, sent shock waves through the political scene when he announced his departure from the his posts as foreign minister and ODS vice chairman. At first, President Vaclav Havel refused to accept Zieleniec's resignation, but then agreed later in the evening, following talks with Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus. Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Jaroslav Sedivy is to be named the new foreign minister. Lida Truneckova/Andrea Snyder Budget Proposal in Second Round Ninety-nine Parliament votes passed the first reading of the proposed 1998 budget. The government says spending and income will be balanced at 536.6 billion crowns. The decision once again rested on independent Jozef Wagner, who changed his mind several times in the past few days. In the end he decided to abstain from voting, which reduced the necessary number of yes votes to the 99 held by the coalition. Wagner's position to make demands of the government is due to Parliament's current composition. The coalition holds 100 of 200 seats, the opposition holds 98 and Marie Noveska and Jozef Wagner are independents. Noveska, however, usually votes with the Social Democrats, the party from which she and Wagner were expelled. ODS spokesman Vaclav Musilek said for Carolina: "Wagner has been suggesting various preconditions at various times. The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) is ready to negotiate them, with exception of (Prime Minister) Vaclav Klaus's resignation. After all, I have never heard such a demand from him." Stanislav Gross, head of the Social Democrats' parliamentary club, commented on Wagner's behavior for Carolina: "He is doing whatever he wants. In my opinion, it is no use to deal with his declarations, because their validity sometimes did not last more than one hour's time." The very last change of Wagner's decision was influenced paradoxically by the exaggerated performance of Milos Zeman, chairman of the Chamber of Deputies and the Social Democrats. Zeman, in an emotional and critical speech on government policy, said: "The government which tolerates thieves objectively becomes through this tolerance a government of thieves. The government which tolerates the fund pillagers, is a fund pillager itself. And the government which tolerates frauds becomes objectively a government of frauds." After this speech Wagner changed his original plan not to support the budget. "Any reasonable citizen will agree with me. The Social Democrats under the leadership of Milos Zeman do not represent an alternative for this country," Wagner explained the change to daily MF DNES. An unusually upset Klaus rejected Zeman's speech: "That was an unreal and unheard-of speech, performed by a vile, shaking voice full of hate. The statement about 'government of thieves' is unprecendented in a civilized society." Ondrej Drabek, Michal Cerny/Andrea Snyder, Milan Smid Romany Emigration in News Again Czech Romanies (Gypsies) are now demanding asylum in Great Britain. During the weekend of October 18-19, 171 applications were registered. Forty-six of the applications were from Slovak citizens, the other 125 were submitted by Czechs. Although about 800 Romanies are now being detained in southern England, fewer are arriving in the holding camps. Mike O'Brien, Deputy at the British Interior Ministry, warned against attempts to abuse the British asylum and social system, saying those who did would be sent back as quickly as possible. He also said the Romany issue would not disrupt relations between the Czech Republic and Great Britain. The Count and Countess of Kent are providing shelter for applicants for refugee status. They estimate the expenses to be between 1 million pounds and 2 million pounds. Each married couple receives 70 pounds weekly along with child support. The British government is considering a similar method to the one Canada recently chose (see Carolina 260): reinstating visa requirements if the number of asylum-seekers does not go down, said O'Brien and British Embassy in Prague spokesman Zbynek Havranek. About 40 Romanies were still in Calais, France October 21. Some refugees are returned to the seaport town when turned away from Great Britain. Many say they will go anywhere else in the world, but they are afraid of their native Czech Republic. This is all very embarrassing for the Czech Republic on an international level. Jonathan Stein of the Institute for East-West Studies said the situation could affect the Czech Republic's admission into the EU. Josef Kreuter, Czech Ambassador to the EU, agrees. He said visa requirements could be a problem, as none of the other EU countries require visas of each other. Karolina Kucerova/Andrea Snyder Almost One-Fifth of Czech Population Longs for Communism Almost one-fifth (18 percent) of Czech poll respondents would rather live in a socialist system. One-quarter of respondents cannot decide whether they prefer the kind of life before or after November 1989's Velvet Revolution. The rest - 57 per cent - of the respondents are strongly for the current political system. This opinion poll was taken by the Factum agency for the Czech daily MF DNES. According to other opinion polls, socialism is gaining more support in the Czech Republic. A June opinion poll taken by the Institute for Public Opinion Research showed that 25 per cent of respondents would rather return to the period before November 1989. Ludvik Pospisil/Sofia Karakeva Klaus rejects Lux's allegations of political parochialism The state of the Czech army before joining NATO and further personnel changes in the Defense Ministry were the subject of discussions between the Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus (Civic Democratic Party - ODS) and Defense Minister Miloslav Vyborny (Christian Democrats) October 20. The prime minister has for the time being rejected Vyborny's request to appoint an ODS representative a deputy minister, stating such a step, taken before the actual realization of fundamental personnel changes among the deputy ministers, would be "suicidal." Josef Lux, chairman of the Christian Democrats and agriculture minister, called Klaus' statement politically small-minded, said ODS was avoiding responsibility and putting its own interest before the public interest. Klaus said he felt offended and discomforted by Lux's words. On the live Czech Television program 21 that night Klaus said next time he was going to think twice whether to remain as loyal as he had been so far, when, after the meeting with Vyborny, he had "saved face" and had not criticized his coalition partner's ministry. The first of the personnel changes, which Vyborny expected to stop critical attacks against his ministry, is the resignation of Deputy Minister Hana Demlova (Christian Democrats), who is leaving the personnel department at her own request. Lenka Vochocova/Nora Novakova Vyborny: SS Archives Are Secured Defense Minister Miloslav Vyborny (Christian Democrats) disagreed October 16 with claims that archives of material related to the SS were closed by his office. "We only secured the archives so that they would be preserved in their completeness and so that they could serve for punishing the crimes of holocaust," said Vyborny in the October 17 edition of the daily Slovo. The matter came to light after Brewster Chamberlin and Ralph Grunewald, experts from Washington's Holocaust Museum, were not allowed into the archives in the Army Historical Institute in Prague. The command for blocking 19 key archives from the Third Reich was issued September 9. Nevertheless, the order had never been published before the incident. In the words of Deputy Minister Vladimir Suman, the Ministry of Defense insists that anybody interested in studying those materials can ask for permission. The present practice could discourage some of those concerned, according to several archive staff members. Jiri Kudila, an employee from the Office of the President, said that a Czech-American agreement on holocaust research cooperation is being prepared. This agreement plans for access of American experts into the Czech archives, including the possibility of acquiring copies of Nazi documents. The agreement should prevent a similar incident from occurring. Jakub Svab/Ivona Pulkrabkova Political Club Founded A new political group which political commentators say could gain sizeable influence has arisen around the independent Parliament deputy Jozef Wagner. Wagner, who was expelled from the Social Democrats last year because of his vote for the government budget proposal, has become kind of a deciding figure in the present stalemate situation in Parliament. It is his vote that ensures the necessary majority for crucial government proposals. The Political Club now calls itself a "discussion platform." During the first days of its existence, several hundred members joined the new organization and Wagner said its later transformation into a political party is possible. "It seems ridiculous to me that people want to hear: this is the next successful political party, when just the creation of some kind of civic association in the form of a political club is being decided. That's not the point, although it is possible that within the club a certain number of people will unite who will want to create a new party," said club founder Rudolf Battek in an interview for the daily Denni Telegraf. Ales Bartl/Veronika Machova Police Break Up Skinhead Meeting A meeting of about 500 skinheads from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Italy was broken up by Czech police on the night of October 18. A SWAT team stopped the concert of the Czech fascist bands Konflikt 88, Vlajka and Bulldog, Slovakia's Biely odpor, the German Bootboys and the Italian group Peggior Amico immediately after cries of Sieg heil came from the House of Culture in Stahlavy na Plzensku. The police held 17 people suspected of disturbing the peace. Material with racist texts was also seized. The identity of 585 more people was checked during the day. Madiyar Magavin/Sofia Karakeva Concert for Marijuana Legalization A concert promoting the legalization of marijuana was held October 17 at the ruins of the Cibulka farm. More than 200 spectators came to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the assassination of reggae musician Peter Tosh, who had been very active in the issue of decriminalizing marijuana. Tosh, along with Bunny Livingston and Bob Marley, founded the legendary reggae group the Wailers. Many Czech musicians (such as Coltcha and Svihadlo), together with rastafari followers, expressed their intentions to communicate Tosh's message. Pavel Turek/Jana Ciglerova NEWS IN BRIEF * The Czech Parliament approved a government amendment of the pension law October 17. It should bring from 10 billion crowns to 15 billion crowns into the budget next year. The Parliament then narrowly rejected the opposition's proposed referendum law. * Labor Minister Jindrich Vodicka has been approved by the Civic Democratic Party's (ODS) political assembly as a candidate for the position of interior minister (see Carolina 260, 261). ODS Interior Minister Jan Ruml is stepping down October 31. Vodicka should be replaced by Stanislav Volak, an ODS Deputy. * The case of former Communist officials accused of treason is going to be brought back to court. Justice Minister Vlasta Parkanova filed a complaint with the Supreme Court regarding the case. * According to the polls taken by the Institute for Public Opinion Research, 66 per cent of respondents trust the media. Fifty-four per cent of respondents support the president, the lowest figure ever. * UNESCO has provided the seven schools most affected by the summer floods with 60,000 USD. * Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus proposed to reserve a space in Parliament Chamber of Deputies where journalists would be allowed to contact politicians. Some politicians have complained about being bothered by the media. * There were four people murdered last week in the Liberec region in northern Bohemia. Police investigators suspect a war between two gangs from the former Soviet Union fighting for control over the region. * Police confiscated 60 kg of cocaine worth 120 million crowns. The cocaine was stacked in cans with colombian coffee. Gabriela Podzimkova, Pedro Afanador, Jan Puncochar/Jana Ciglerova FROM SLOVAKIA Fear of Slovakia's Isolation Reconciles Kovac and Meciar In an effort to catch the speedy European Union train, the two biggest rivals on the Slovak political scene, President Michal Kovac and Premier Vladimir Meciar, claimed a reconciliation October 17. Together they signed a declaration in which they confirmed the lasting interest of Slovakia to join the EU and promised to work for renewal of the EU's confidence. This summer, the European Commission did not recommend starting talks with Bratislava concerning Slovak membership in the EU. The European Parliament warned Slovakia that it will be the only country not fulfilling the political criteria to be invited to negotiations about membership (according to the 1993 EU Summit in Copenhagen, among membership criteria is that a country's institutions must guarantee democracy, the rule of law, the security of people's rights and the respect and security of minorities). The West emphatically requests the return of National Assemblyman Frantisek Gaulieder (see Carolina 260), but Meciar's ruling party has ruled out returning Gualieder's mandate. Nevertheless, in the declaration Meciar and Kovac hope the Union will re-evaluate its position toward Slovakia, and they expect the National Assembly will fulfill all EU requests. Eva Fronkova Lenka Jindrlova/Gabriela Pecic Havel and Meciar Become Relatives Not even the most sensation-seeking director would have made such a bizarre combination in a script about Czech-Slovak relations - making two such inveterate political rivals as Czech President Vaclav Havel and Slovak Premier Vladimir Meciar become relatives. On October 18 in Nove Mesto nad Vahom Meciar's niece, Denisa Meciarova, and a distant relative of the Havel's wife Dagmar, Vojtech Simicek, exchanged wedding vows. The marriage provoked interest in Czech and Slovak media, which still did not overwhelm the wedding guests. Meciar made the wedding date public at his recent meeting with Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, during which he surprised everyone by accepting an invitation to the Czech Republic. In the past, Meciar has made a visit conditional on an apology from the Havel for the statement he made about Meciar's paranoia; Meciar, after finding out about the future kinship, dropped the condition. Jana Ciglerova/Ajla Zinhasovic ECONOMY Big Interest in Information Technology in Brno INVEX - the biggest fair of information technology in the Czech Republic (and after Hannover's CeBit the second largest in Europe) took place in Brno October 13-17. More than 700 firms from 11 countries presented themselves on the 45,000 square meters belonging to Brno's Fairs and Exhibitions. The fair was accompanied by a program called Come into the Future focused on computer games and multimedia and addressed primarily to young visitors. According to organizers the biggest innovation introduced at the fair was digital versatile disk - DVD - although it had been shown in Brno last year. Kolya, the Czech oscar-winner, was released as the first Czech film on DVD, to promote the technology. Besides the mammoth battle of mobile-phone providers Eurotel and Paegas, which brought new and more powerful gadgets, visitors could test the smallest computer in the world operating under Microsoft Windows95, the Toshiba Libretto 50CT. It is 21 cm long and 12 cm wide. The software section was traditionally dominated by Microsoft, Novell and Lotus, which this time focused on computer networks and workgroups - groupware. Microsoft advertised its sale called October 32 (it will take place November 1). Visitors will be able to buy Microsoft's newest products at a 32-per-cent discount. Jan Kozanek/Matej Cerny Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from October 24) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 23.318 Belgium 100 BEF 90.279 Great Britain 1 GBP 54.102 Denmark 1 DKK 4.889 Finland 1 FIM 6.218 France 1 FRF 5.553 Ireland 1 IEP 48.459 Italy 1000 ITL 19.075 Japan 100 JPY 27.308 Canada 1 CAD 23.873 Luxemburg 100 LUF 90.279 Hungary 100 HUF 16.740 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.523 Norway 1 NOK 4.599 New Zealand 1 NZD 20.667 Poland 1 PLN 9.720 Portugal 100 PTE 18.291 Austria 1 ATS 2.644 Greece 100 GRD 11.869 Slovakia 100 SKK 97.637 Germany 1 DEM 18.615 Spain 100 ESP 22.070 Sweden 1 SEK 4.332 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.480 USA 1 USD 33.214 ECU 1 XEU 36.700 SDR 1 XDR 45.275 CULTURE Forgotten Light Wins Czech Oscar Nomination The Czech Film and Television Academy October 21 nominated into the best foreign motion picture category a Vladimir Michalek's film Forgotten Light (Zapomenute svetlo). Other nominees were the films The Wonderful Years of Lousy Living (Bajecna leta pod psa) and An Uncertain Report about the End of the World (Nejasna sprava o konci sveta). The winner was chosen in a secret vote, which provoked heated debate, because only half of the 109 academy members took part in the vote. Among others, in the Czech Video Center last year's Oscar winner in the category - Kolya - was shown on DVD digital videodisc. Prokop Havel/Denisa Vitkova Flamenco King Paco De Lucia Performs in Prague The world's most famous exponent of rhythmic flamenco, Spanish guitarist Paco De Lucia, performed in Prague's Lucerna Palace October 19. For the first time Prague had the chance to hear the roots of De Lucia's style, which reach into African and gypsy music. De Lucia played in Brno last year. The 50-year-old guitarist, born Francisco Sanchez Gomez, came after concerts in Germany in his European tour. He had a seven-member group, headed by his two brothers: singer and composer Pepe De Lucia, and Ramon De Algeciras who started the flamenco king playing guitar. A dancer, Joaquin Grila, proved the band's style is also conducive to flamenco dancing. Petr Bilek Jr./Denisa Vitkova Hamlet Celebrates Birthday Prague's Comedy Theater (Divadlo komedie) celebrated its third anniversary under the leadership of Michal Dockal October 17 with its 70th performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet, with David Pracharin the title role. All previous Czech Hamlets (Radovan Lukavsky, Frantisek Nemec, Kamil Halbich and others) attended the special performance. Spectators will also be able to meet the prince of Denmark, in the well known staging of Lithuanian director Eimuntas Nekrosius at the Pilsen Theater 97 festival October 23. Pavel Turek/Denisa Vikova SPORT Slovak Kucera Won IPB Czech Indoor Tennis Tournament Slovak tennis player Karol Kucera became the surprise winner of the IPB Czech Indoor Tournament in Ostrava October 13-19. In the semifinal match Kucera's opponent, Goran Ivanisevic, withdrew after losing the first set 6-3 because of an arm injury. The semifinal repeated itself in the final match, where Kucera defeated Swedish player Magnus Norman, who gave up the match after losing the first set 6-2 due to a leg injury. Jiri Polak Sparta Tops Soccer Extraleague after Nine Rounds Sparta still leads the league, while Slavia is nine points behind and Sigma Olomouc third. Plzen and Lazne Bohdanec are at the bottom of the chart. Sparta Praha defeated Opava 1-0 when Vratislav Lokvenc scored a goal in the 88th minute of the match. Slavia's side played a tough match in Plzen. Two new coaches had their debut in the match - Slavia's Pavel Tobias and Petr Ulicny from Plzen. Slavia won 2-0 on Vacha's and Asanin's shot goals. There was a very important match in Ceske Budejovice. Another new coach, Zdenek Prochazka, led his team against Lazne Bohdanec and won 3:0. Bohdanec has won only one match, in Plzen three weeks ago. Results of the 9th round (October 17-19): Sparta - Opava 1 0, Plzen - Slavia 1-2, Hradec Kralove - Dukla 0-1, Zizkov - Liberec 3-0, Teplice - Ostrava 0-0, Jablonec - Brno 2-0, Olomouc - Drnovice 2-0, Ceske Budejovice - Bohdanec 3-0. Extraleague Standings 1. Sparta 9 8 1 0 21:7 25 2. Slavia 9 4 4 1 15:6 16 3. Olomouc 9 4 2 3 9:5 14 4. Ostrava 9 3 5 1 13:12 14 5. Teplice 9 3 4 2 12:8 13 6. Liberec 9 4 1 4 12:17 13 7. Brno 9 3 3 3 14:10 12 8. Zizkov 9 3 3 3 7:6 12 9. Drnovice 9 3 3 3 11:12 12 10. Jablonec 9 3 3 3 9:11 12 11. Hradec Kral. 9 3 3 3 7:10 12 12. Dukla 9 3 2 4 9:13 11 13. Opava 9 2 4 3 12:13 10 14. Ces.Budejovice 9 2 3 4 11:13 9 15. Plzen 9 2 1 6 9:13 7 16. Laz. Bohdanec 9 1 0 7 3:18 3 David Kozohorsky/David Kozohorsky Champions Extraleague: Sparta Praha - Galatasaray Istanbul 3-0 (1-0). Standings in the group: 1. Parma 3 2 1 0 3-0 7 2. Dortmund 3 2 0 1 5-2 6 3. Sparta 3 1 1 1 4-4 4 4. Galatasaray 3 0 0 3 0-6 0 Hockey Extraleague Standings after the 17th Round (October 21): 1. Vitkovice 26 pts., 2. Trinec 23, 3. Sparta 22, 4. Vsetin 21, 5. Litvinov 20, 6. Zlin 19, 7. Plzen 19, 8. Pardubice 16, 9. Jihlava 15, 10. Kladno 15, 11. Slavia 14, 12. Ceske Budejovice 12, 13. Karlovy Vary 9, 14. Opava 9. WEATHER Once upon a time, King Typhoon was living in a faraway kingdom behind seven mountains and seven rivers. This king had three daughters: Stormfront, Rainshower and Inversion. All three decided to visit our country last week. The weather was chilly, cold (5-7 degrees Celsius/41-44 degrees Fahrenheit), with freezing temperatures at night. And because these three daughters have not yet left, the same weather is going to be with us for several more days. Fortunately, King Typhoon is sitting quietly at home. English version edited by Michael Bluhm. APOLOGY to anybody who received this issue second time. A failure of the LISTSERV software on Friday is the that reason why we have to re-send Carolina No. 262 once again (some subscribers received only the header and not the body of our e-mail message). Carolina -------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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