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 290, Friday, May 22, 1998. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (May 13 - 20) Street Disturbances in Prague Prague May 16 witnessed the largest street disturbances since 1989. A planned and permitted happening to protest against multinational corporations' and capitalism's effects on the environment, arranged by ecology organizations on Peace Square (Namesti miru), continued with an unannounced Global Street Party which got out of the organizers' control. Approximately 3,000 participants, led by a group of militant anarchists and ecology activists, first blocked the north-west Prague-Brno highway where it runs through downtown Prague and asked drivers to leave their cars at home. Then, however, the crowd's front line and the police collided and the action continued with the destruction of a neo-Fascist Republican's election billboard, the ransacking of two stores in Vodickova Street, and breaking windows at McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, which the ecology organizations consider a symbol of globalization and consumption. Finally, a special police unit dispersed the demonstrators. Seventeen policemen were injured, 64 young people were arrested, damages were estimated at 1 million crowns and dozens of complaints against the police were filed. The alleged police brutality received much attention. Prague Police Deputy Director Jan Charvat said the intervention could have been harsher, but there have been cases publicized where police attacked citizens who were not part of the demonstration. The only concrete consequence thus far has been the request of Police President Oldrich Tomasek to add more members to the SWAT team. Jakub Svab/Denisa Vitkova Audit Confirms Doubts about ODS Finances The accounting books of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) are full of mistakes and the party's sponsoring activity has repeatedly broken the law, said the final report of the independent accounting firm Deloitte & Touche. The report was commissioned by the ODS and was made public May 13. The audit declared that "the ODS accounting files did not properly reflect the state of party finances." There are also donations which were not registered in the accounting, and moreover were later legalized as party membership dues which were never actually paid. Deloitte & Touche found that some party members "highly probable" made a personal profit from the party, and were exercising "fraudulent practices" in getting money. Speculations about the existence of a secret foreign bank account were neither confirmed nor rejected. However, further information was added to the issue. Lubomir Reichsfeld, a former employee in the ODS headquarters, told Deloitte & Touche he was informed by office manager Marta Sorfova that the TelSource company paid the equivalent of 100 million crowns to an ODS bank account in Switzerland. The sum of money was supposedly a reward for the outcome of the privatization of the Czech telecommunication monopoly SPT Telecom, which TelSource won. The same thing was referred to as "second-hand information" also by Jan Ruml, former ODS leader and present chairman of the Freedom Union, but Sorfova rejected the charge. ODS is not going to take any further measures as a result of the audit. "I think that political consequences, respectively a political toll, were already assessed. I think they were assessed strictly, uncompromisingly, and it has also been paid," said Ivan Langer, ODS vice chairman, at a press conference. He said he meant the fall of the former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus' government, ODS' absence in the present government and a loss of public confidence in ODS. Nonetheless, several employees from ODS headquarters will have to pay a price. Sorfova and chief accountant Marie Krcmarova are said to have been fired. The auditor called them the link in chain of people who organized the acquisition and distribution of money not registered in the accounting. According to Oldrich Vojir, the manager of the ODS headquarters, their future will be decided next week. Ondrej Drabek/Milan Smid Political Parties Get Ballot Numbers for the Elections Central Election Committee members May 18 drew ballot numbers for parties taking part in the elections. That way, graphic artists could add the last detail into campaign advertising materials. The biggest interest was in numbers 1, 7 and 13. Number one went to the Christian Democrats, the supposedly lucky seven to the Social Democrats, who have been using it as a symbol for a while, and the Czech National Social Party received number 13. The Freedom Union said it was satisfied to received 11, or two ones. The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) drew number 5, the Communists number nine and the Retirees for Life Security number 12. The Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) also received a number, although the party announced over the weekend it would not participate in the elections. Its preference in voter polls has been about 1 per cent, and the 200,000 crowns each party has to pay in every county it is on the ballot probably influenced their decision. Eva Fronkova/Denisa Vitkova Unions Cannot Agree with Tosovsky Representatives of 10 labor unions May 19 met Prime Minister Josef Tosovsky to present their demands, particularly cost-of-living increases for state employees' wages from July 1. In 1998, this increase would require approximately 3 billion crowns from the state budget. However, the prime minister said he did not see room for releasing this amount of money from the budget, and he agreed only the union's demand to participate in creating the state budget for 1999. Last year, real wages in the public sector decreased because of inflation and the cancellation of planned bonuses. Immediately after the unsuccessful discussion with Tosovsky, the labor unions agreed on further joint negotiation. They also announced an hourlong warning strike to take place June 8. Jaroslav Mares/Denisa Vitkova Havel Surgery Postponed The medical consultation group for President Vaclav Havel decided May 19 that the follow-up surgery on Havel's abdomen to close his colostomy should be postponed until middle of July. The removal of the artificial outlet for the colon is technically more demanding on a patient than its introduction. Despite the president's wish to be operated on as soon as possible, Dr. Frantisek Antos, an expert on digestive system illnesses from Prague Bulovka Hospital, did not recommend the early surgery. The presidential couple said they were disappointed by the decision, since the president's mood has improved, and Havel said he would have liked to have the colostomy removed before the June elections. At the request of Havel's family the surgery will be performed by the Austrian surgeon Ernst Bodner, who performed the emergency operation on Havel's perforated colon in Innsbruck April 14. One of the Dalai Lama's personal doctors also offered his services to the president. Paula Majorova/Milan Smid Book of Interviews with Vaclav Klaus Released The Votobia publishing house released Thus Spoke Vaclav Klaus, in which the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) chairman and former prime minister answers questions from Peter Jungling, Tomas Koudela and Petr Zantovsky. The interviews cover the time from Klaus' entry into politics until last year's cabinet collapse and the split of ODS. Klaus speaks openly about the people around him and describes situations he witnessed as a politician. "We did not intend to build a monument to Vaclav Klaus. We wanted to know who Vaclav Klaus is. Who he was before he became prime minister and the biggest right-wing party leader, and why it was him," say the authors in a book review. Jungling, Koudela and Zantovsky say they consider Klaus "an incredibly consistent personality as far as his opinions and pushing them through is concerned ... We decided to give the book a Nietzsche-like name because ... this kind of metaphor and distance, after all, is appropriate with Klaus," said the authors. The book created a wave on the Czech political scene. Political opponents of ODS said they do not fear the content of the book but the possibility that Klaus' party will use the book unfairly in leading its election campaign. Some Social Democrats expressed their worries over the cover, with Klaus' portrait, being printed on billboards. Except for the neo-Fascist Republicans, parliamentary parties agreed not to use billboards in the campaign. Billboards of the most popular Czech singer Lucie Bila with the words Lucie Bila for Vaclav Klaus received a negative reaction because they were considered a breach of the agreement. ODS claims they neither paid for the billboards nor ordered them. Bila said Klaus knew his name was going to be used on the billboard. Ondrej Drabek/Jana Ciglerova NEWS IN BRIEF * Former Editor-in-chief of Czech Television's news Petr Studenovsky replaced Minister Vladimir Mlynar as government spokesman May 19. Mlynar resigned after joining the Freedom Union and a deciding to lead their Prague election ballot. * President Vaclav Havel won a court case brought by his sister-in-law, who sued him for allegedly not upholding her pre-purchase right to the half of Lucerna Palace Havel sold to Chemapol for 200 million crowns. The Prague City Court ruled that Havel did not break the law. * This weekend the convention of the Czech and Moravian Chamber of Labor Unions took place, during which Chairman Richard Falbr was re-elected. The session also changed the name of the group's headquarters from Chamber to Confederation because of the unsuitability of the word chamber, which is more fitting for professional organizations. * The Light for Aids campaign, which took place May 16 in 50 countries, was also observed in some Czech cities, where a symbolic light was inflamed in memory of the disease's casualties. The greatest number of people gathered in Prague. Eva Fronkova/Ajla Zinhasovic FROM SLOVAKIA Nuclear Power Plant Mochovce Launched Operation of the Mochovce nuclear power station, planned for May 20, has been delayed. Power station management announced the delay May 18, citing the extended presence of group of experts in the station. A full-capacity test run is still planned for July 21. Austria, which has opposed the power station from the beginning, is not the only opponent of Mochovce. Austrian Chancellor Viktor Klima May 18 formally asked Slovak Premier Vladimir Meciar to delay activating Mochovce, as did head of the international expert team Wolfgang Kromp, citing security reasons. Both the coalition and opposition parties agree with the power plant's activation, while the Slovak Green Party and Greenpeace are against it. Paula Majorova/Matej Cerny Slovaks Restrict Imports of Czech Beer The Slovak government decided to restrict the import of Czech beer by lowering the import quota from 532,000 hectoliters to 300,000 hectoliters last week. According to Vice Premier Sergej Kozlik, the decision has been made and now it is just a question of finding a way to put it into practice without excessively irritating the Czechs. The reason for the step is that local breweries are running at 65-per-cent capacity while imports make up 13.2 per cent of the Slovak beer market. Kozlik also said foreign brands being made in Slovakia will not be included in the restrictions. Agriculture Minister Petr Bac said Slovakian breweries will have to purchase Slovak hops. The issue is about to be discussed by the Customs Union Council soon, but the Alliance of Czech Breweries and Malt-houses already protested. Alliance Chairman Antonin Kratochvil said one-sided quota reductions are a violation of the World Trade Organization rules. Jakub Svab/Matej Cerny ECONOMY Insurance Company Goes Bankrupt The Morava Insurance Company (Pojistovna Morava) went bankrupt last week when the Ministry of Finance took away its licence May 11. According to Ministry spokesman Michal Jirkovsky, the state overseer of insurance companies had been trying without success to improve the company's situation since 1996, so removing its licence was only the logical last step. Morava, the 12th largest insurance company in the country with 0.7 per cent of the market, was blamed for low premiums which could not cover expenses and risks. Moreover, it did not have property insurances secured and so had problems paying people who had claims from last year's floods. The Czech legal system does not allow insurance companies to acquire the policies of another insurance company that went bankrupt, and so it seemed that Morava's clients would have a long wait for their money. However, the Universal Insurance Company proposed that it will acquire all insurance policies of Morava, but that clients will individually have to sign a new contract. This agreement was made with the help of the Czech Insurance Companies Association and must be approved by the Finance Ministry. Jakub Svab/Matej Cerny Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from May 22) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 20.291 Belgium 100 BEF 88.534 Great Britain 1 GBP 52.514 Denmark 1 DKK 4.793 ECU 1 XEU 35.925 Finland 1 FIM 6.010 France 1 FRF 5.445 Ireland 1 IEP 45.950 Italy 1000 ITL 18.515 Japan 100 JPY 23.821 Canada 1 CAD 22.227 Luxemburg 100 LUF 88.534 IMF 1 XDR 43.153 Hungary 100 HUF 15.321 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.203 Norway 1 NOK 4.312 New Zealand 1 NZD 17.194 Poland 1 PLN 9.376 Portugal 100 PTE 17.821 Austria 1 ATS 2.595 Greece 100 GRD 10.576 Germany 1 DEM 18.260 Slovakia 100 SKK 94.444 Slovenia 100 SIT 19.604 Spain 100 ESP 21.496 Sweden 1 SEK 4.190 Switzerland 1 CHF 21.883 USA 1 USD 32.201 CULTURE Czech/Czechoslovak Radio Celebrates 75th Anniversary Czech Radio (CR) celebrated its 75th anniversary (having spent the vast majority of its years as Czechoslovak Radio) May 18. The celebrations, which began some weeks ago, came to a head May 17 in Old Town Square with a daylong program. Celebrities like Helena Vondrackova, Karel Gott, Miro Zbirka, Ilona Csakova and Frantisek Nedved appeared. A double album of CR's key moments and a partial history of Czech music was introduced and the theme song of the Czech version of the musical Evita, now being prepared, was performed publicly for the first time. CR's foreign correspondents presented their book, named after their program, The Foreign Correspondents' Notebook. Part of the program was broadcasted live by CR's Radiojournal. On May 18 at 9:15 p.m., precisely 75 years from CR's first regular broadcasting, listeners enjoyed a repeat of the first show. CR first broadcast May 18, 1923 from the famous tent in Kbely on the outskirts of Prague, making Czechoslovakia the second country with its own radio station, after the British BBC. Only about 250 people who paid the license fee for their radios could listen to the CR's daily one-hour program from 8:15 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.. It mainly played music for solo instruments and solo singing, along with brief news, mainly weather and sports, and later also stock exchange reports. CR on February 12, 1925 became the first radio station in Europe to broadcast an entire theater performance. Eva Fronkova/Sofia Karakeva The Faculty of Social Sciences Held a Student Festival From May 13-15 the home of the Social Sciences Faculty hosted the third-annual Pavlac student festival, which celebrates the end of the spring semester. On the school's terraces and courtyard performed its students, as well as students from the film, theater and music schools. This year, organizers divided Pavlac into three separate sections. On May 13 the festival was infantile, as visitors could watch a puppet performance, a concert by the band Mr. Tycka and a video of the popular comics figure Green Raul (Zeleny Raoul) from the Czech weekly Reflex. For those wanting to return to earlier times, children's magazines and children's cartoons were also on the program. On May 14 Pavlac had a naturalistic flavor, and the highlight was the filming of the Czech Television talk-show On the edge (Na Hrane) about the return of totalitarian culture. The festival came to its end on May 15 with experimental theater, dance and musical performances. A concert by the band Vanishing World in the Subterra Club at the Prague Fairgrounds brought the festival to a close. Eva Fronkova/Sofia Karakeva SPORTS Czech Hockey Players Get Bronzes Czech hockey players won the bronze medal in the World Championships, defeating the host team of Switzerland 4-0 May 15. They failed to advance to the final a day before when they did could not defeat Finland and take the series into overtime (Czech Republic - Finland 1-4 and 2-2). Finland lost in the first final 0-1 to Sweden and the rematch finished in a scoreless tie. Sweden regained some prestige after its poor showing in the Nagano Olympics. Czech player Frantisek Kucera was voted to the Championships all-stars and named best defender of the tournament. Jaroslav Mares/Mirek Langer Bottom of Soccer League Clearing up After the 28th round of the first soccer league, the probable appearance of the final standings is becoming clearer. FC Dukla and Petra Drnovice saved their spots in the league, while the chances of second-to-last Ceske Budejovice grew darker. Budejovice is now three points behind Hradec Kralove and it has tougher opponents in the last two rounds. Sparta Praha sewed up the championship two rounds ago and second place belongs to Slavia. Ostrava and Olomouc are playing for the third place, and the better team will take part in the UEFA Cup next year. The soccer league's schedule will now take a break because of the national team's start in Japan. Results: Olomouc - Jablonec 1-0, Hradec Kralove - Teplice 1-1, Brno - Plzen 5-1, Dukla - Sparta Praha 2-2, Slavia - Liberec 1-0, Drnovice - Ceske Budejovice 3-0, Opava - Zizkov 3-0, Ostrava - Bohdanec 6-1. Jaroslav Mares/Mirek Langer Speedway World Championships Start in Prague The first of six races in the Speedway World Cup took place in Prague's Na Markete stadium May 15. The favorite for the championships became first-race winner Tony Rickardsson of Sweden, riding a Czech Jawa motorcycle, while the United States' Hamill finished second and Sweden's Nilsen third, both riding GMs. Czech racers Antonin Kasper and Bohumil Brhel both started thanks to wild cards and both finished among the first 16 racers. The race, concluded by a fireworks display, was watched by about 8,000 spectators, mostly from Poland and the Czech Republic. Eva Fronkova/Mirek Langer WEATHER Everything is clearing up not only in the Czech soccer standings but also in the sky. The sun is shining, the wind is blowing, the clouds are clouding, the sunset is sunsetting and the daytime 20 degrees Celsius/68 degrees Fahrenheit is tempering. In respect to the starting exam period the weather is so fine that it is ugly. Thunder clouds are going to hang not only over Charles University, but frequent showers and possible thunderstorms and hail will become highly probable also outside the school. Jaroslav Mares 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!