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@mbox.fsv.cuni.cz tel: (+4202) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+4202) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 305, Friday, October 23, 1998. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK (October 14 - October 21) Havel Visits Great Britain President Vaclav Havel's activities scare his doctors. The president October 11 opened the Forum 2000 international conference in Prague. A day later, in Vienna, he participated in a summit of presidents from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Italy. Then October 19 Havel, accompanied by his wife Dagmar and a delegation, left for a four-day visit to Great Britain. The most important issue on the agenda was a discussion about the threat of a visa requirement for Czechs. The first day of his stay, Havel attended a gala dinner with Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace. Later, Havel and Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed the problem of racism, although no conclusions were reached. On the contrary, discussions between Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan and British Home Office were successful. Deputy Minister O'Brien assured Kavan that Great Britain is not planning to introduce a visa requirement for Czech citizens in the near future. After demanding meetings, Havel relaxed on the evening of October 19 among writers. In playwright Tom Stoppard's apartment the Czech president spoke with Salman Rushdie. Havel October 20 visited the town of Wingrave, near London, where the Czechoslovak exile government had its residence during World War II. Then he took a flight to Northern Ireland, where he met David Trimble, prime minister of the new government and a fresh winner of Nobel Peace Prize. Havel expressed his full support for the peace process. His trip concluded with a dinner with Prince Charles and a speech at Oxford, where he discussed the contemporary role of the intellectual in politics. Oxford University presented him with an honorary doctorate. Tomas Polacek/Denisa Vitkova CSSD Central Executive Committee Meets in Hradec Kralove The Social Democrat Executive Central Committee had a meeting in Hradec Kralove October 16-18. In spite of media predictions, there was no turbulent discussion in connection with changes in the party's management. The board of the Central Executive Committee decided on the first night of meetings that only Vladislav Schrom would resign as vice chairman (he managed municipal politics and recently became a member of the board of directors of mining giant OKD) while Vice Chairman Ivo Svoboda, in charge of party financing, would remain in office simultaneously with his duties as finance minister until the party congress. Ostrava Deputy Mayor Petr Lachnit was named to replace Schrom. The Central Executive Committee refused a proposal from Chairman of the district executive committee in Karlovy Vary Josef Mikuta, who wanted to convene an extraordinary congress where personnel changes in party management would be made. Mikuta was the only committee member to vote for the proposal. Zeman confirmed he would resign as party's chairman before the next Parliament elections, and said he had two candidates for the office: Labor Minister Vladimir Spidla and the parliamentary club Chairman Stanislav Gross. The Central Executive Committee also ordered municipal elections chief Jindrich Leska to withdraw the party ballot in Hradec Kralove, allegedly because of the order and number of candidates. Petra Machova/Denisa Vitkova Zeman Criticizes Journalists, Klaus Also Dissatisfied with Media Prime Minister Milos Zeman criticized Czech media at the Social Democrat party meeting in Hradec Kralove. He called them unprofessional and was particularly scathing in regard to dailies MF DNES and Lidove noviny, which he called the "dumbest" daily in the country and lies with every word. Zeman also labelled the weekly Respekt a "journalistic sewer" recently. Zeman said the majority of Czech journalists excel "neither in intelligence nor in professionality," and that "the suspicion of corruption cannot be ruled out" with some of them. Zeman said MF DNES is biased against the his government because of fear of the Clean Hands operation, which could call into question the privatization of the daily. Irena Valova, the head of the Czech Journalist Syndicate (Syndikat novinaru CR) said the prime minister's statement could be taken as an "intentional intimidation" of journalists and asked the International Federation of Journalists for solidarity. Parliament Chairman Vaclav Klaus has also made critical remarks addressed to the media, at an ODS election meeting in Prague October 16. He criticized the media for not reporting on events he considered important, citing as an example the meeting of Industrialists Union (Svaz prumyslniku). Klaus said newspapers and television create a distorted picture of contemporary reality and asked aloud "how to make media write about important things." Klaus has also indirectly blamed journalists for inciting hysteria in regard to the alleged mismanagment of Czech banks. Jakub Jirovec/Milan Smid Another Motion on Restricting Parliamentary Immunity Rejected The Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) submitted October 16 a bill to restrict parliamentary immunity, supported by Freedom Union (US) deputies, but all other parties abstained and the proposal did not pass the first reading. Legislators voted the amendment down, saying that the restriction should have been broader. Christian Democrats were accused of populism and trying to get into the news.The author of the bill, KDU-CSL legislative expert Miroslav Vyborny, said Parliament is trying to hide its unwillingness to restrict immunity. One of the main issues is the lifetime freedom from prosecution, which has been part of the Constitution since 1918 and totally prohibits the prosecution of a deputy as long as Parliament does not permit it. Another question is how deputies should function while being investigated for criminal activity, as well as the immunity of the justices of the Constitutional Court. Parliament had refused a similar bill presented by the Freedom Union in February, as well as four similar bills in previous years. Pavel Sladky/Marketa Kaclova Kazakhstan Czechs Moving to Jablonec There is hope for the families of Czech Kazakhstanis to find a new home in Jablonec nad Nisou. The local City Hall granted them four apartments from the town's housing fund. Jablonec Deputy Mayor Sona Paukrtova said to the Czech daily Lidove noviny that it is not yet clear in which neighborhood will the apartments will be, but it is more likely that all four will not be situated in the same area. The six families that took advantage of the Czech Foreign Ministry's offer to move from Kazachstan to the Czech Republic were originally to be housed in Vrkoslavice, in the Jablonec region. But the citizens of this community protested with a petition in August, pointing out that they are afraid of "an increase in crime, disturbances of the peace and the decline of the value of the properties near the asylum building" and also threatened to carry guns, according to Czech daily Lidove noviny October 15. The Town Hall decided not to place the Kazachstanis in Vrkoslavice. Initiator of the petition Dagmar Bernardova said Vrkoslavice residents thought the refugees would be from the Balkans and not Czech Kazachstanis. She said they now have no reservations toward their countrymen. Pavel Novotny/Sofia Karakeva Number of Refugees Increases While police still investigate the case of the Moldavian plane, (see Carolina 304), border police have taken into custody dozens of the illegal immigrants from Kosovo who daily cross the Czech-Slovak borders. According to Police President Jiri Kolar, 32,250 illegal immigrants were recorded in the Czech Republic this year. The majority passes through the Czech Republic on its way to the West, but some have asked for refugee status in the Czech Republic. Today 910 people are in the Czech refugee camps, but the number increases every day. It is assumed that illegal immigrants are responsible for 7 per cent of Czech crime. Partly because of this a change is being considered in the legislation relating to foreigner residency and asylum in that foreigners might have to apply for a visa before entering the Czech Republic. Lenka Ludvikova/Sofia Karakeva FROM SLOVAKIA Slovaks Need Visas to Ireland as Well Ireland introduced a visa requirement for the citizens of Slovakia October 19. Ireland had to take the same measures as Great Britain because of a border treaty. Great Britain introduced the visa measure October 8 in reaction to the growing number of Slovak Romanies (Gypsies) seeking asylum. The Irish Embassy for Slovakia, located in Vienna, said the measure would be temporary. Sasa Jokic/Jan Martinek ECONOMY Karbon Invest, Owner of CMD, Takes Over OKD The group of coal barons controlling the Metalimex trade company and the Czech-Moravian Mines (CMD) October 14 gained control of the Ostrava-Karvina Mines (OKD). The company Karbon Invest, owned primarily by three managers from CMD and Metalimex, became the owner of 48.5 per cent of the shares of OKD. This connection of Czech mines de facto creates an unchallenged monopoly on the coal market. The new owner of the OKD did not release the purchase price of the shares, but experts say ownership of OKD is worth about 2 billion crowns. OKD published a long-term business plan October 15. Former CMD board Chairman and Karbon Invest part-owner Viktor Kolacek became chairman of the OKD board. The main aim of the company is the production, processing and sale of coal on Czech and foreign markets. Administration seems to be in for some reduction, and coal production should decrease by about 1 million tons. This year, about 12.5 million tons will be mined in OKD and about 3.5 million tons by CMD. The main advantage of this connection should be the coordination and financing of mining strategy. The OKD general meeting, which should approve the definitive version of restructuring and the merger with CMD, is being planned for the end of the year. The new owner also counts on projects which would create jobs for northern Moravia. The plans include building energy sources in Trinec and Stonava. Jiri Wazik/Jan Martinek Farmers Postpone Demonstration Czech farmers decided to postpone their demonstration against government agricultural policy, but they are still insisting on the fulfillment of their demands. The Agrarian Chamber accepted an offer of dialogue from Agriculture Minister Jan Fencl and canceled the planned demonstrations (see Carolina 304). Chamber President Vaclav Hlavacek said farmers are ready to protest if the dialogue is unsuccessful. Farmers threaten the blocking of all major highways to Prague and occupy strategic offices. They have also spoken of loosing a herd of pigs into Parliament. The government meanwhile approved the plan for new legislation to protect Czech farmers against subsidized imports, although it is unlikely that such laws would come into effect before next summer. Marketa Lajdova/Jakub Jirovec ECONOMY IN BRIEF * The auditing firm Deloitte & Touche published a rating of the top 100 banks in central Europe. There are four Czech banks among the top 10 - Commerce Bank (Komercni banka), the Czech Savings Bank (Ceska sporitelna), the Investment and Postal Bank (Investicni a postovni banka) and the Czechoslovak Trade Bank (Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka). Although its shares have recently been in a free fall, Commerce Bank is still the biggest bank in central Europe. * The Czech Statistics Office said the Czech foreign trade balance was almost level in September. The deficit of 18 million crowns was the lowest in four years. Jan Mates/Jakub Jirovec Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid October 21) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 18.114 Belgium 100 BEF 85.057 Great Britain 1 GBP 48.693 Denmark 1 DKK 4.616 ECU 1 XEU 34.597 Finland 1 FIM 5.771 France 1 FRF 5.233 Ireland 1 IEP 43.790 Italy 1000 ITL 17.740 Japan 100 JPY 24.470 Canada 1 CAD 18.534 Luxemburg 100 LUF 85.057 IMF 1 XDR 40.794 Hungary 100 HUF 13.275 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.564 Norway 1 NOK 3.836 New Zealand 1 NZD 15.202 Poland 1 PLN 8.304 Portugal 100 PTE 17.100 Austria 1 ATS 2.494 Greece 100 GRD 10.214 Germany 1 DEM 17.550 Slovakia 100 SKK 80.181 Slovenia 100 SIT 18.379 Spain 100 ESP 20.648 Sweden 1 SEK 3.658 Switzerland 1 CHF 21.542 USA 1 USD 28.681 CULTURE Czech Culture in Brussels President Vaclav Havel, the first lady, Belgian King Albert II and Queen Paola October 15 christened the three-month cultural festival in Belgium called Europalia 98. An exhibit of Prague Art Deco opened in Brussels' Palace of Fine Arts. The Czech Republic will also be represented by musical groups, films, theater performances and by the winning works of the competition Czech Press Photo 97. Referring to the fact that the festival is featuring for the first time a country which is not a member of the EU, Havel said, "I perceive Europalia as a spiritual prelude to our talks on EU membership." Publicity about Europalia is not too extensive, but Belgian media have shown a liking for the display of Czech culture. Culture Minister Pavel Dostal, who participated in the inauguration with Foreign Minister Jan Kavan, said he considers it a good sign that the Czech government kept its promise to provide the necessary money for the festival and thus shows the EU that it is a reliable partner. Because the Europalia Foundation did not find needed sponsors, a deficit of 25 million crowns had to made up. Linda Kholova/Linda Kholova Pilsen Festival Offers Variety of Genres The Theater 98 festival, which ended October 18, was exceptional for its variety of genres and for its international conception. All performances were sold out, which none of the organizers had expected. "This festival provides the opportunity to see performances in the most various genres staged by the most various nationalities in a few days," said Antonin Prochazka, Czech actor and director. The program covered four days and included almost all theater genres, including ballet and marionette performances. Visitors could see such genre-crossing pieces as Hamlet Part 2, a variation on Shakespeare's play performed by David Prachar to the music of Brno drummer Pavel Fajt. Audience response was mostly positive. The biggest ovation might have gone to the Pilsen Theater's staging of the Donizetti opera Lucia of Lamemoor. Also taking part were small theaters from throughout the Czech Republic and Germany, Hungary, Russia and Slovakia. Only Slovak actor Marian Labuda's absence was cause for disappointment. Jan Moravek/Zuzana Janeckova Court Prohibits Distribution of Second Book The Brno Regional Court October 13 prohibited distribution of Jana Soukupova's book Who around Prague Castle Is Readying for Hell? Josef Pojezdny, the abbot of the Strahov Monastery, is suing Soukupova. In the book Soukupova says the abbot does not observe his vow of celibacy, supports anti-Semitic ideas and does not respect the secrecy of confession. The court required Soukupova and publisher Dusan Skala to publish an apology to the abbot in two daily newspapers. Soukupova called the verdict unconstitutional and will ask the Supreme Court to consider the case. The most serious accusation of breaching the secrecy of confession was based on the fact that police had gained some confidential information in the case of Marta Chadimova allegedly related by the abbot. This is the second book published in the Czech Republic to be banned by the court. The first one was Cooking with Cannabis, published by Votobia two years ago. Three of the publishers were convicted of promoting drug use. Jan Moravek/Zuzana Janeckova CULTURE IN BRIEF * Vladimir Michalek's film Sekal Must Die will be the 1998 Czech candidate for the best foreign-language film Oscar, decided the Czech Film and Television Academy October 20. * The new album from top pop group Lucie was released October 19. The band has been a fixture on the Czech music sky for 10 years, but the members of the group prepared this album on the Taiwanese island Koh-Phan-Gan. Their stay is palpable throughout the album, and the band members say the mood of the island stayed with them a long time after their arrival. For the album, entitled Larger Than a Small Quantity of Love, the band used four songs recorded in Taiwan. The title of the album pokes fun at a recent Czech law on drug possession. Linda Kholova, Robin Rohrich/Lenka Nejezchlebova, Linda Kholova SPORTS Becker Should Have Crowned Millionaires in Ostrava The fifth year of the IPB Czech Indoor tennis tournament started in Ostrava with qualification matches October 17. The tournament invited seven players from the top 10 of the ATP rankings, including Andre Agassi, Petr Korda and rising young Slovak Karol Kucera. Also aging Boris Becker, 66th in the ATP rankings, was to have played, but withdrew because of injury. The top-seeded Korda disappointed Ostrava's tennis fans. A merciless draw made Russia's Marat Safin his first-round opponent and Korda lost to the newcomer 4-6, 2-6. Korda was frustrated by not receiving a wild card for the doubles competition with Bohdan Ulihrach. Only one Czech player advanced to quarterfinal: Martin Damm surprisingly beat Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov (seeded fourth) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Two Czechs lost in the second round (Novak and Ulihrach), Vacek and Stepanek - Becker's substitute - were ousted in the first round. Only three seeded players remain in the competition, second-seeded Agassi and Sweden's Thomas Enqvist (seventh) and Thomas Johansson (eighth). Vladimir Vorechovsky/Mirek Langer Sold-Out Teplice's Stadium Applauds Czech Soccer Team Coach Jozef Chovanec continued his winning streak on the national team bench in Teplice. The Czech team defeated Estonia 4-1 in its third Euro 2000 qualification match there October 14. More than 13,000 spectators attended the match. Pavel Nedved celebrated his comeback to the squad after a break forced on him by a red card in the last match with the game's first goal, in the 9th minute. Patrik Berger, who returned to the national team after long refusing participation, then became the star of the match. He increased the lead to 3-0 with two nice free kicks. Estonia scored a goal for the Czechs, credited to Lokvenc, closed out the Czech scoring. After the break Estonia avoided a complete embarrassment with good defense and a goal in the last minute of the match. The Czech Republic leads the group with the maximum number of points. Josef Koukolicek/Mirek Langer Slavia Prague Not Eliminated Despite Loss in Bologna The last Czech team in the UEFA Cup, Slavia Prague, lost 1-2 to FC Bologna in Italy October 20. Its performance cannot be considered a disappointment, because Slavia will host a rematch in Prague's Strahov Stadium November 3. Bologna played better throughout the entire first half, but all its chances were snuffed out by goalkeeper Radek Cerny. After the break the play was more courageous on both sides, and Bologna capitalized first - Giuseppe Signori scored in the 51st minute. Slavia then had some scoring threats and in the 68th minute Richard Dostalek scored after the Italians' mistake. Klas Ingesson's header five minutes before the end gave the win to Bologna. Petr Wilfer/Mirek Langer Boby Brno Soccer Players Finally Win First League Game Boby Brno had to wait until the 9th round of the Gambrinus Soccer League for its first win. Boby defeated Zizkov 1-0 but is still in last place in the standings, with the same number of points as Dukla Pribram. Dukla kept Sparta from scoring, but the goalless tie did not help Dukla abandon the league cellar. After a win in a televised match against Plzen, Teplice is still on the top of the standings, ahead of Drnovice and Sparta. Results of the 9th round: Slavia - Karvina 1-0, Pribram - Sparta 0-0, Ostrava - Jablonec 4-1, Opava - Olomouc 2-2, Brno - Zizkov 1-0, Blsany - Hradec Kralove 3-0, Liberec - Drnovice 1-1, Teplice - Plzen 4-2. Standings: 1. Teplice 20, 2. Drnovice 18, 3. Sparta 17, 4. Blsany 16, 5. Olomouc 16, 6. Opava 14, 7. Zizkov 14, 8. Ostrava 13, 9. Slavia 13, 10. Liberec 11, 11. Plzen 8, 12. Hradec Kralove 8, 13. Jablonec 7, 14. Karvina 7, 15. Pribram 6, 16. Brno 6. Petr Wilfer/Mirek Langer First Change of Coaches in Hockey Extraleague Litvinov coach Ondrej Weissmann resigned after the 14th-round match against Opava. He was the first coach to fall in this year's Staropramen Hockey Extraleague. Vaclav Sykora succeeded him as coach of the 11th-place team. In the last two years, Sykora and Slavomir Lener led Sparta Prague. Jihlava and Vsetin, teams hit by a virus epidemic, return to play in the 13th round. Vsetin did not look handicapped, winning matches against Kladno and Pardubice. Karlovy Vary did not allow a goal to its opponents in two consecutive matches, thanks to goalkeeper Rudolf Pejchar. Zlin remains at the top of the standings, having tied its last five games. Results of the 13th round: Opava - Plzen 1-2, Litvinov - Karlovy Vary 0-2, Kladno - Vsetin 0-6, Zlin - Ceske Budejovice 1-1, Pardubice - Jihlava 2-1, Trinec - Slavia 3-2, Sparta - Vitkovice 7-3. Results of the 14th round: Opava - Litvinov 3-3, Zlin - Plzen 3-3, Pardubice - Vsetin 2-4, Karlovy Vary - Jihlava 6-0, Sparta - Ceske Budejovice 2-6, Kladno - Slavia 3-1, Trinec - Vitkovice 1-3. Postponed match from the 12th round: Jihlava - Kladno 3-3. Standings: 1. Vsetin 21, 2. Zlin 19, 3. Trinec 19, 4. Plzen 18, 5. Sparta 16, 6. Ceske Budejovice 15, 7. Slavia 14, 8. Karlovy Vary 14, 9. Pardubice 14, 10. Vitkovice 13, 11. Litvinov 12, 12. Kladno 10, 13. Opava 6, 14. Jihlava 5. Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * Petra Piskackova recorded the best result ever for Czech karate, winning a silver medal in the unlimited category in the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro. Mirek Langer/Mirek Langer WEATHER It seems that nice, sunny days have been shining on the republic recently, perpetual optimists are even calling it Indian summer. The less optimistic are not talking of summer, but their clothes confess that winter has not yet broken out. And the pessimists? A typical pessimist grimaces at the morning sun penetrating through the clouds and puts on a scarf and gloves. Everybody simply takes a different approach to days with mornings near freezing and sunny afternoons. Marketa Lajdova/Lenka Nejezchlebova 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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