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 272, Friday, January 16, 1998. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (January 7 - 14) Government Proposes Date for Early Elections Prime Minister Josef Tosovsky's Cabinet January 12 proposed a June 19 date for parliamentary elections and a method to enable their calling. The decision followed a Sunday meeting Parliament Chairman Milos Zeman had called for the parties represented in Parliament. The Government may present a bill to Parliament January 15 on the sale of state-owned land and connect a vote of confidence as a rider. Parliament must respond by April 15, or the President will dissolve Parliament, thereby giving the Senate its powers, and early elections will be held June 19. President Havel said that if Parliament elects him January 20, he will disband it and arrange new elections. Tomas Mls/Andrea Snyder After deadline: The Cabinet January 14 approved the proposed state land bill with the attached request for a vote of confidence. Ruml's Faction Becomes Freedom Union Former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus' Civic Democratic Party (ODS) fell apart January 13, when former dissident and Interior Minister Jan Ruml announced his party platform. Thirty of 69 members then left the ODS Parliament Club. Ruml and his supporters are founding a new party - the Freedom Union - from what was the ODS faction opposing Klaus, and say they will set up a club in Parliament following their conference January 17. Parliament Vice Chairmen Jiri Honajzer and Jiri Vlach left ODS, as well as all ministers serving in Prime Minister Josef Tosovsky's government: Stanislav Volak, Michal Lobkowicz and Jan Cerny. Klaus' former ministers - Jan Strasky, Jindrich Vodicka, Jiri Novak - and former Parliament Chairman Milan Uhde have also left ODS. In the 1996 parliamentary elections, ODS garnered 29.6 per cent of the popular vote. Now the Social Democrats lead the polls, and the Factum agency reported that in December only 17.5 per cent of those pooled would vote for ODS. The Freedom Union will fight for seats in the upcoming elections. Madiyar Magauin/Andrea Snyder After deadline: Because of the unwillingness of some members of ODS leadership to clear up the ODS financing affair, party Vice Chairman and Klaus supporter Bohdan Dvorak resigned January 15, one month after being elected to the position. Zantovsky Back to ODA, Faction Founds New Party Former Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) Chairman Michael Zantovsky was re-elected chairman of the party presidium after a two-month break January 10 at a party conference by a 26-16 vote. Hradec Kralove Mayor Martin Dvorak immediately resigned from the ODA (Dvorak is the brother of the above-mentioned Bohdan Dvorak), and Justice Minister Vlasta Parkanova said the spirit of confrontation has returned with Zantovsky. Former Police President Stanislav Novotny is one of the founders of the Party of Conservative Agreement, which splintered from the ODA early this week. Other former ODA members pushing for this new party include Parliament deputy Ivan Masek, Deputy Minister Without Portfolio Viktor Dobal and Daniel Korte. Madiyar Magauin/Andrea Snyder Former Social Democrat Founds New Political Party Former Social Democrat Jozef Wagner, now an independent in Parliament, and Helsinki Committee Chairman Martin Palous announced January 13 they are founding a new party, the Political Club - Democratic Center Party. They say the current right-wing parties have failed, and Milos Zeman's Social Democrats provide no solution to the current political crisis. The political club was created last fall. Tomas Mls/Andrea Snyder Chopper with 20 Czech Soldiers Crashes in Bosnia An Mi-17 Czech Army helicopter assigned to international SFOR troops in Bosnia with 20 Czech soldiers and one British soldier on board crashed January 8 shortly after the take-off. The most serious accident in the Czech SFOR battalion, which wounded 10 of the Czech soldiers, nine seriously, was allegedly caused by an unknown defect. A Czech expert commission had been sent to Bosnia the day after the crash and confirmed that the cause of the crash was neither the pilot nor any shortcomings in the planning or performance of the flight, but a hidden defect, not detectable even during the regular technical checks. The small rear propeller evidently stopped functioning, which made the helicopter nearly impossible to control. According to the Ministry of Defense, no such malfunction has previously occurred. All helicopters of this type will be grounded until the cause of the accident is definitively determined. Six of the nine seriously injured Czech soldiers, who suffered broken bones and chest, spine and lung injuries, are being treated in the Prague Army Hospital, while the condition of one still unconscious soldier is very serious. One soldier has already been released from the Prague hospital. Two soldiers are recovering after surgery in the Bosnian town of Klisa. The uninjured members of the helicopter crew are taking a short reconvalescence leave. Anna Kadava/Milan Smid Germany to Pay Eastern European Jews The German government and the Jewish Claims Conference (JCC) have finally come to an agreement concerning financial compensation for victims of Nazism from Central and Eastern Europe. The agreement has to be approved by the German Bundestag. Friedrich Bohl, minister of the German Government and Helmut Kohl's chief of staff, said that during the next four years Bonn will provide 200 million deutschmarks. A new foundation managed by the JCC will be established to manage the compensation monies. From 1999-2002 Germany will annually contribute to the foundation 50 million deutschmarks. This agreement enables Bonn to maintain its standpoint that all individual damage claims have been resolved. That is why the amount of contributions is not part of the agreement and why the foundation is for the support of people persecuted by Nazism and not for damage payments. According to JCC's estimations there are about 18,000 Jewish victims of Nazism living in Central and Eastern Europe entitled to compensation. About 1,500 Jewish victims live in the Czech Republic. The new foundation will give victims 250 deutschmarks monthly. In order to receive this support, victims will have to prove they survived Nazi persecution, have not received any other form of compensation and are "suffering from poverty." Anna Kadava/Sofia Karakeva FROM SLOVAKIA Gabcikovo-Nagymaros to Become Gabcikovo-Pilismarot? Hungary will probably build its part of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros dam in Pilismarot, because Gabcikovo has decreased the level of the Danube River in Nagymaros too much. Negative public opinion might be the final straw why construction is not taking place in Nagymaros. Construction of the water colossus should end the eight-year conflict, which has complicated relations between Hungary and Slovakia. Final construction of the dam was agreed to by negotiators from both countries January 12 in Bratislava, during the fifth round of talks. In this meeting Budapest significantly retreated, when lengthy bargaining brought the acceptance of the Slovak proposal, according to which the dam's Hungarian part will strongly resemble the original plan from 1977, when the contract for the dam's cooperative construction was signed. After the fall of Communism, Budapest withdrew from the contract and Slovakia continued alone with construction on its side. This began the conflict, as Hungary accused Slovakia of illegally blocking the Danube's course and causing Hungary ecological damages. The situation was taken to the World Court in The Hague, which last year ruled the contract was valid and called on the countries to come to an agreement. Anna Kadava/Sofia Karakeva ECONOMY IN BRIEF * Parliament passed a bill establishing a Securities Commission January 13. It was the second passage of the bill, which had been returned by the Senate. The commission, which is to begin work in April, will replace the Finance Ministry's oft-criticized Securities Office. * In the first days of 1998, the Czech Republic's rate of unemployment broke through the 5-per-cent barrier for the first time in history. According to Tadeas Kokotek from the Labor Ministry, the number of unemployed increased in all regions, although the most difficult situation is still in northern Moravia and Bohemia - most unemployed come from the regions of Most, Chomutov, Louny, Karvina and Teplice. * An extraordinary general meeting of the Investment and Postal Bank (IPB) scheduled for January 8 was cancelled because of the National Property Fund's decision to block the planned increase of basic capital. The rejection of the increase, which would raise the bank's capital from 2.8 billion crowns to 11 billion crowns, stems from the unresolved sale of the fund's share of IPB to Nomura. * Goods and services prices increased in 1997 by one-tenth: last year's inflation was 10 per cent. The rate of inflation, based on average price levels of the last 12 months versus prices in the preceding 12 months, worked out to 8.5 per cent. Tomas Mls/Denisa Vitkova Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from January 16) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 23.231 Belgium 100 BEF 95.043 Great Britain 1 GBP 58.370 Denmark 1 DKK 5.147 Finland 1 FIM 6.476 France 1 FRF 5.855 Ireland 1 IEP 48.992 Italy 1000 ITL 19.931 Japan 100 JPY 27.329 Canada 1 CAD 24.891 Luxemburg 100 LUF 95.043 Hungary 100 HUF 17.279 Netherlands 1 NLG 17.401 Norway 1 NOK 4.745 New Zealand 1 NZD 20.641 Poland 1 PLN 10.082 Portugal 100 PTE 19.178 Austria 1 ATS 2.788 Greece 100 GRD 12.432 Slovakia 100 SKK 101.770 Germany 1 DEM 19.610 Spain 100 ESP 23.137 Sweden 1 SEK 4.454 Switzerland 1 CHF 24.131 USA 1 USD 35.726 ECU 1 XEU 38.747 SDR 1 XDR 47.802 CULTURE Actress Vlasta Fialova Dies On January 13, a week before her 70th birthday, the actress Vlasta Fialova died. The unexpected news shocked her troupe in Brno as well as her fans. The actress performed in the stage play A Year in a Village (Rok na vsi) one day before her death. Fialova performed on the stages of Opava and Olomouc, as well as in the National Theater in Brno. She became famous to moviegoers in the movie Wild Bara (Diva Bara). She also appeared in The Hawk versus the Dove (Jestrab kontra Hrdlicka), Citizen Brych (Obcan Brych) and Police Hour (Policejni hodina). In recent years she experienced a comeback on the scene of the Mahen theatre in Brno. Michal Cerny/Ajla Zinhasovic Exhibit of Charles University's Evolution An exhibit documenting Charles University's development from its establishment in 1348 until the present was opened in Prague's historic Carolinum January 8 as part of celebrations of the 650th anniversary of the university's founding. Besides the historical exposition, visitors have an opportunity to become familiar with the development of the school's colleges of medicine, pharmacy and physical education and sports. From February 18, the other colleges will open their exhibits. The exhibition ends November 5. Michal Cerny/Ajla Zinhasovic SPORTS Two Czech Trucks Attacked during Paris-Dakar Rally During the January 9 stage of the 20th Paris-Dakar Rally, a band of armed men held up the two Czech trucks of Milan Koreny and Bedrich Sklenovsky. Although they shot at the Czechs, no one was hurt. "At the time when the Tatra ahead us with number 414 (with Koreny, Lamac and Kahanek) was coming over a sand dune, bullets started to fly at it," said Petr Hamerla, a member of Sklenovsky's garrison. Bandits shot out the first truck's tires and then made both trucks' occupants get out. Because they wanted to leave with two trucks (one Tatra being immobilized), they waited for another to come by. After about half an hour they ran out of patience and took anything they felt like, from spare parts to personal belongings, into the mobile truck and left. The team decided to go on in the rally with the surviving truck and the third Czech truck of leader Karel Loprais. Koreny is in fourth. Korda Wins in Qatar and Is 7th in ATP Rankings Czech tennis player Petr Korda won the tournament in Dauha, Qatar for the second time in his career. After his win in the final over Santoro of France, he moved into seventh place in the world rankings. "It's a good start to the new year, I was playing well for all week, I was pretty aggressive," said Korda and noted that the win strengthened his self-confidence before the Australian Open. Katerina Neumannova Third Twice Katerina Neumannova, the best Czech cross-country skier, repeated her success in the 10-kilometer classic race in Ramsau, Austria and finished third also in the 5-kilometer classic. Martinsen of Norway won the race, and Russia's Lazutina was second. Neumannova then retired from the 10-kilometer freestyle after six kilometers because of absolute exhaustion. Vsetin Loses Lead in Hockey League after Internal Controversy Vsetin's home loss to Ceske Budejovice was the biggest surprise of the ice-hockey extraleague's 36th round. Vsetin fell from the top of the standings after two of Budejovice's goals were scored by former Vsetin player Barus. In the 37th round, Vsetin was led by new coach Zdislav Tabara, who replaced Jan Neliba. Neliba was sacked probably because of conflicts with the team's stars, Beranek and Srsen. Slavia Praha's captain returned in a match against Kladno after a knee injury. Results of the 36th round: Trinec - Opava 6-2, Vitkovice - Jihlava 3-3, Vsetin - Ceske Budejovice 2-4, Kladno - Karlovy Vary 1-3, Pardubice - Zlin 3-3, Plzen - Litvinov 3-3, Slavia Praha - Sparta Praha 3-2. Results of the 37th round: Slavia Praha - Vsetin 3-2, Zlin - Sparta Praha 5-3, Vitkovice - Karlovy Vary 3-1, Opava - Plzen 1-4, Jihlava - Trinec 1-1, Ceske Budejovice - Kladno 4-2, Litvinov - Pardubice 2-1. Results of the 38th round: Jihlava - Karlovy Vary 4-2, Kladno - Slavia Praha 2-1, Vitkovice - Ceske Budejovice 4-2, Vsetin - Zlin 3-0, Trinec - Plzen 7-4, Pardubice - Opava 4-3, Sparta Praha - Litvinov 6-2. Standings: 1. Vitkovice 52 points, 2. Trinec 51, 3. Vsetin 49, 4. Sparta Praha 46, 5. Slavia Praha 43, 6. Plzen 43, 7. Litvinov 42, 8. Jihlava 40, 9. Pardubice 36, 10. Zlin 33, 11. Ceske Budejovice 32, 12. Kladno 27, 13. Karlovy Vary 20, 14. Opava 18. Sports by Michal Cerny/Mirek Langer WEATHER Over the past weekend the Czech Republic had a chance to look into spring. It turned out so perfectly that part of the rich Central European flora were confused enough to prepare to bloom. That comes as no surprise, considering temperatures were above 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees Fahrenheit and the sky was azure-blue (to stay concentrated on a book was a superhuman task). With the new week lower temperatures appeared and cooled students' and flowers' hormones. Unfortunately, the weather changed in the mountains as well - the mercury in the thermometer reached an incredible 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees Fahrenheit. Besides the fact skiers have no threat of snow, it also means the specter of smog and inversion has begun to appear. Karolina Kucerova/Gabriela Pecic English version edited by Michael Bluhm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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