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) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 312, Friday, December 11, 1998. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (December 2 - December 9) After Havel, Zilk Calls Scandal Closed Former Vienna Mayor Helmut Zilk, who was not given a medal on the October 28 state holiday because of suspicions he cooperated with the Communist secret service (see Carolina 306), said after his private audience in the presidential residence December 8 that he considers the scandal about his past to be closed. Presidential spokesman Ladislav Spacek informed journalists immediately after the meeting, announcing that President Vaclav Havel apologized to Zilk for the blame carried by his office for the affair. However, Zilk came to Prague with no expectations to receive an apology. In Vienna, Czech ambassador to Austria Jiri Grusa expressed the Czech Republic's regret over the affair. The commission that investigated the file about Zilk indicated there was no documentation to support the suspicions. Zilk said he was very satisfied with the meeting. "I am very happy, it was a cordial and friendly meeting. It was far more beautiful than I could have imagined," Zilk said. The former Vienna mayor also met Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav Klaus. Zilk said he is not considering clearing his name in court. Jan Moravek/Denisa Vitkova Constitutional Court to Decide on Lastovecka's Senate Mandate The Supreme Court December 3 accepted the Social Democrats' (CSSD) complaint about the irregularity of the Senate elections in Brno's city district. Therefore, the winner of the elections - the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) candidate and Brno Mayor Dagmar Lastovecka - cannot be given her official mandate, and if the Constitutional Court does not overturn the Supreme Court's decision, new elections will take place in this district. The Supreme Court states two media outlets broke the Voting Act because they did not respect the official end of the campaign 48 hours before the elections. During these two days, Czech Television broadcast a news story with a shot of Lastovecka, and daily Lidove noviny published two articles that, according to the complaint, gave her an unfair advantage. Reactions of the ODS representatives were indignant. ODS Chairman Vaclav Klaus said he considers the Court's statement "a simple effort to discredit elections as a basic pillar of democracy". ODS appealed to the Constitutional Court against the verdict. The Constitutional Court will consider whether the Supreme Court did not make a mistake and whether Lastovecka, who has also been mentioned as a candidate for Senate chairwoman, will lose her mandate. Constitutional Court chairman Zdenek Kessler denied in an interview that the fact Lastovecka is his daughter could influence the Court's decision. The decision on removing a Senate mandate is unprecedented in the Czech Republic - no elected deputy or senator has lost his chair yet, based on a complaint. The legal public perceives the verdict as being very strict. Marketa Lajdova/Denisa Vitkova Czech-German Discussion Forum in Dresden The first annual session of Czech-German Discussion Forum was held December 4-5 in Dresden. The meeting was attended by the presidents of both countries - Vaclav Havel and Roman Herzog - and, for the first time, a representative of the ruling Czech Social Democrats, Parliament deputy Vladimir Lastuvka. Students from both countries also came, and a parallel discussion took place on the Internet. Havel in his speech criticized the German government for its reduced support for European Union expansion and recalled how the former Czechoslovakia agreed to German unification in spite of some complications. The European Union must expand despite the problems it will bring, said Havel. The new chairman of the German section of the Forum's Coordination Council, German Deputy Foreign Minister Gunter Verheugen, in his speech said that the Czechs must deal with post-World War II period of their history and emphasized that the new German government still considers the expulsion of Sudeten Germans an injustice. Later, during a press conference, he was asked if his government supports returning property to the expelled Sudeten Germans. He said the German government will not claim any property in the Czech Republic. Jakub Jirovec/Jakub Jirovec President Talks with Ministers about Racism and Xenophobia Three days before International Human Rights Day December 7, President Vaclav Havel discussed with some government members the issue of racism and xenophobia in the Czech Republic. "It is something to which we should give our permanent attention. Not at all only in the moment when something unusually alarming occurs. It must be constant, everyday work," said Havel to the daily Hospodarske noviny. Havel said he considers the continually stronger expressions of racist violence and xenophobia a serious matter which could jeopardize the Czech Republic's NATO membership. He also expressed his surprise that in the Czech Republic racist magazines can be distributed and that crimes which are obviously racist are not classified as such. Prime Minister Milos Zeman said he thinks that it is important for his government, in cooperation with the intelligence services, police and justice, to take some concrete and effective steps against the skinhead movement - "a specific representative of the worst that is inside us." The prime minister also mentioned that in the Czech Republic about 30 racially motivated murders have been registered since 1990. Tomas Polacek/Jakub Jirovec ODS Favorite Benesova to Run for Senate Chairwoman Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Vice Chairwoman Libuse Benesova will run for the position of Senate chairwoman. ODS' Senate club nominated Benesova as its official candidate December 8. According to the Opposition Contract between ODS and the Social Democrats (CSSD), the ODS candidate for the chair has the support of the Social Democrats. The two parties have the votes needed to elect Benesova. CSSD Senate club chairman Zdenek Vojir said he accepts Benesova as a candidate. He repeatedly promised that the Social Democrats will uphold the Opposition Contract. Although some Social Democrat senators stated earlier that they will not be blindly led by the contract, Benesova should be a sure bet in the vote to be held December 16. Benesova's opposition will be current Chairman Petr Pithart. Jan Mates/Sofia Karakeva Kasal Wants to Lead KDU-CSL Vice Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-CSL) Jan Kasal will run for the position of party chairman. Kasal, now temporarily leading the party after former Chairman Josef Lux resigned for health reasons (see Carolina 302), announced his candidacy December 4. The Christian Democrats' convention in spring should come down to a duel between Kasal and Cyril Svoboda, former interior minister, who has yet to declare his candidacy officially. Kasal has the support of party members in key regions of southern Moravia, the party's strongest area. New candidates might still appear. Alena Smrzova, Tomas Kohout/Sofia Karakeva NEWS IN BRIEF * Municipal elections in Prague's Dubec district will be held again January 30, if the Constitutional Court does not overturn the Prague City Court verdict that in Dubec the Voting Act was broken. Some voters allegedly found in the Dubec polling centers envelopes containing extra ballots, while people posing as policemen carried away the real ballots. * Former chief of the Voucher Privatization Center and the Securities Center Jaroslav Lizner, sentenced in 1996 to 6 years in prison (see Carolina 176, 188) for accepting an 8-million-crown bribe, was released after 3 years in prison December 7. * The presidium of the Social Democrats' central Bohemia organization December 7 proposed a referendum on whether the Senate should exist. Social Democrat Chairman and Prime Minister Milos Zeman would not rule out a possible referendum, but he pointed out it would be necessary first to pass the three-times rejected constitutional Referendum Act. Marketa Kaclova, Klara Nedvedova/Sofia Karakeva FROM SLOVAKIA Slovak Government Clashing The November 2 confidence vote of the new Slovak cabinet of Premier Mikulas Dzurinda saw unexpected complications in the National Assembly. Although the government received a vote of confidence (see Carolina 311), conflicts arose inside the coalition cabinet. The conflicts, according to some observers, could lead to the split of the fragile configuration of five parties. The heart of the argument was the fact that the government program statement did not contain the a pledge to put church schools on equal footing with public schools, to close a treaty with the Vatican and to establish a Catholic university. Chairman of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and Justice Minister Jan Carnogursky led the intra-coalition opposition to the absence of the promises. The ruling Slovak Democratic Coalition, despite its election promises, did not accept these points because of pressure from the post-communist Party of the Democratic Left (SDL'). Carnogursky took advantage of his influence with assemblymen, who then got the measures included in the program statement as a rider during discussion of the statement in the assembly. Dzurinda was very upset with members of SDK voting with the opposition. On the other hand, Dzurinda has been criticized for his inclination toward the leftist wing of the SDK and his promise to Party of Civic Understanding (SOP) that the coalition parties would support SOP Chairman Rudolf Schuster in the coming presidential election. Schuster will not be supported by coalition members KDH and Jan Langos' Democratic Party (DS) because of Schuster's former membership in the Central Committee of the Communist Party before 1989. KDH and DS support the former President Michal Kovac. Jiri Wazik/Jan Martinek Meciar Will Not Run for President Former Slovak Premier and Chairman of Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) Vladimir Meciar announced December 4 he will leave public life. He denied all speculation around his possible candidacy for president and said he would just remain chairman of HZDS. Meciar said he will not run for any public function in the future. "At a time I myself will determine I will leave the public life for solitude," said a declaration signed by Meciar and sent by HZDS to the press. HZDS won the September general elections, but could not find a coalition partner. Meciar gave up his seat in the legislature at the end of October. Petra Machova/Jan Martinek ECONOMY Klaus Proposes Discussion of Czech Economy to Tosovsky and Zeman Vaclav Klaus, chairman of the Chamber of Deputies and the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), asked in a December 3 letter to Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Czech National Bank Governor Josef Tosovsky to open a dialogue about economic policy. His reason was the most recent statistics confirming the continually worsening state of the Czech economy. Zeman and Tosovsky accepted the offer, and the country's last three prime ministers will meet December 11. On Zeman's suggestion the discussion will be joined by Richard Falbr, the chairman of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Labor Unions, to guarantee the social acceptability of the measures considered. "It is no longer possible just to watch. It is the responsibility of all of us entrusted by the people with administering the public sphere to join our efforts, and it is our responsibility to find a solution to the current economic problems," wrote Klaus. The main culprit is, according to Klaus, the National Bank, which without consulting the government took its decisions, which Klaus called anti-growth and a brake to the economy. The leader of the Communists' parliamentary club, Vojtech Filip, said Klaus is becoming aware of his responsibility for the unfortunate situation of the Czech economy. Michaela Prokopova/Michaela Prokopova Despite Rejection, Sales Tax Increase Game not Over The Social Democrat government is going to put forward a motion to increase sales taxes on gasoline and cigarettes again in January, in spite of the fact that the bill was rejected by the Chamber of Deputies December 2. Abolishing differences between the domestic and European sales tax rates is one of the preconditions for joining the European Union. While EU smokers pay a sales tax of 57 per cent of the retail price for pack of cigarettes, Czech smokers pay 45 per cent of the retail price in taxes. The gasoline sales tax is 3 crowns higher per liter in EU countries than in the Czech Republic, and it is to be increased in the EU by another 5 crowns per liter. The question remains whether harmonizing sales taxes should proceed step by step, as the present proposals put it, or if it shall be realized as a single, global decision just before Czech entry into the EU. If the Social Democrats' motion is not passed by the Chamber of Deputies, the Czech budget could lose 6 billion crowns in revenues. Pavlina Hodkova/Milan Smid Czech National Bank Reduces Repo Rate Again The Czech National Bank December 3 reduced its repo rate for the second time in the last month, this time from 11.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent. The crown strengthened, reaching a plateau of 18 crowns to the deutschmark. The rate reduction gives room for an increase in consumer and investment demand, which, it is hoped, will spur economic growth. The reduction is also good for banks, as demand for loans and the chances for a return on loans increase. Pavlina Hodkova/Sofia Karakeva ECONOMY NEWS IN BRIEF * Subsidies for the export of pork from the European Union to its associated states, including the Czech Republic, were cut in half by a decision of the EU Committee for Pork after admitting the validity of Czech objections to the subsidy. The decision went into effect December 8 and will be valid until January 19, 1999. * Former Second Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Property Fund Michal Hruby replaced Petr Cermak as chairman December 4. Hruby has worked in the fund since 1994. * Unemployment in the Czech Republic is still rising. The November unemployment rate reached 7 per cent, and in comparison with last November 108,689 more people are out of work. There are about 360,000 unemployed Czechs. Petr Wilfer/Petr Novy Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid December 11) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 18.662 Belgium 100 BEF 87.692 Great Britain 1 GBP 49.949 Denmark 1 DKK 4.756 ECU 1 XEU 35.493 Finland 1 FIM 5.950 France 1 FRF 5.395 Ireland 1 IEP 44.938 Italy 1000 ITL 18.269 Japan 100 JPY 25.624 Canada 1 CAD 19.549 Luxemburg 100 LUF 87.692 IMF 1 XDR 42.047 Hungary 100 HUF 13.815 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.051 Norway 1 NOK 3.974 New Zealand 1 NZD 15.692 Poland 1 PLN 8.637 Portugal 100 PTE 17.642 Austria 1 ATS 2.572 Greece 100 GRD 10.787 Germany 1 DEM 18.090 Slovakia 100 SKK 83.729 Slovenia 100 SIT 18.765 Spain 100 ESP 21.264 Sweden 1 SEK 3.734 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.246 USA 1 USD 30.052 CULTURE Vera Linhartova Awarded 1998 Seifert Prize Poet, playwright and writer Vera Linhartova received the 1998 Seifert Prize December 3. Linhartova received the prestigious literary prize for her book Mes oubliettes, which the author translates as At the Mercy of Time (Napospas casu). The Seifert Prize is awarded to the author of an excellent novel published in the last three years. The prize has been given since 1986, and previous winners include Bohumil Hrabal and Milan Kundera. Sixty-year-old Linhartova made her literary debut in the 60's with the books Space for Differentiation (Prostor k rozliseni), Discussion of a Lift (Rozprava o zdvizi) and House Far Away (Dum daleko). In 1968 Linhartova emigrated to France, where she studied Japanese culture and oriental fine arts. Her last novel in Czech was Cross-Section of an Onion (Prurez cibuli), then in French she published Twor and Carnivorous Portraits (Masozrave portrety). Beside the Seifert Prize, Linhartova was decorated with a Medal of for Merits by President Vaclav Havel on the 80th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia. Pavel Novotny/Katerina Kolarova Woodstock's 30th Birthday Celebration Begins in Prague Prague's Veletrzni Palace is the first host of the Get Back exhibit, a recollection of the legendary 1969 music festival in upstate New York. Thirty years later, the festival is recalled through photographs, original posters, underground newspapers and art by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. The exhibit will then be hosted by Hamburg, Amsterdam, Bad Steben, Berlin and Vienna, where the Woodstock '99 celebration will culminate next summer with 70 hours of live music and other entertainment. Lenka Ludvikova/Zuzana Janeckova Theater on the Balustrade Brings out 40th Anniversary CD Theater on the Balustrade (Divadlo Na Zabradli) was christened with a staging of If a Thousand Clarinets December 9, 1958. To celebrate the anniversary, the theater released a CD paraphrasing the original Clarinets called If 2,000 Clarinets. The CD contains a selection of the theater's repertoire, including legendary pieces from Ivan Vyskocil, Jiri Suchy, President Vaclav Havel, Jan Preucil, Jiri Bartoska, Ladislav Mrkvicka and Pavel Zednicek. Altogether the CD consists of 51 numbers in a mix of songs and dramatic passages. The 160-page booklet shows the history of theater through photographs and collages made from reviews, programs, petitions and interviews. Vyskocil, who attended the CD's official release, guided visitors through the theater's building. The theater celebrated its 40 birthday with the premiere of the Bulgarian play Colonel Bird. Linda Kholova/Zuzana Janeckova David Copperfield, Greatest Living Magician, Performs in Prague Before some 6,000 spectators, 13 people disappeared in each of two performances by David Copperfield in the sold-out Sport Hall in Prague December 3. Copperfield placed them in special seats, from which they demonstrated their presence with flashlights after being hidden behind a curtain. Suddenly the lights were extinguished, the curtain went up and spectators saw an empty stage. Copperfield evoked the same reaction through other tricks used during his two-hour show: he walked through a giant fan, he shredded his own arm into pieces, he made a big necktie dance and drink with a straw. Copperfield, born David Seth Kotkin, became famous by making the Statue of Liberty disappear, escaping from Alcatraz Prison and walking through the Great Wall of China. Veronica Macias/Mirek Langer SPORTS Jana Novotna Wins Exhibition BVV Open The sixth year of the BVV Open exhibition tennis tournament finished with Czech player Jana Novotna's win December 5. Novotna lost only one game in the semifinal match against 15-year-old Australian Jelena Dokic, and in the finals she overcame Slovak Henrietta Nagyova. Novotna quickly and easily took a 6-3, 5-0 lead, but then she could not convert six match points and made the final a small drama. She lost three consecutive games, but finally overtook her opponent with an aggressive game. She said in a television interview that Brno is her territory. She also recommended her tennis rivals not come to Brno, or at least not to come here for a win. This tournament will be a regular WTA Tour event starting next year with 170,000 USD in prize money. The tournament's new director, Pavel Slozil, promised the participation of Novotna, Anna Kurnikova and the possible participation of Steffi Graf, Conchita Martinez, Sandrine Testud and Dominique van Roost. Petr Novy/Petr Novy Hockey Extraleague: Kladno Wins on Vsetin's Hot Ice The match against the standings' second-worst team, Kladno, became a shocker for the reigning champions from Vsetin. Kladno had not won a road match since the beginning of the season. Kladno continued to improve in its next match, in Prague against Slavia. The loss was Slavia's sixth in a row, and was followed by a trade with Litvinov. Former Sparta player Petr Hrbek came back to Prague from northern Bohemia, while 1998 World Championships bronze-medal team member Marian Kacir was shipped out of the capital. After the trade Slavia ended its losing streak in Pardubice. New Trinec coach Jaroslav Jagr started his job well: in a game between two northern-Moravian teams, Trinec tied Vitkovice and then defeated Ceske Budejovice in a high-scoring match. Two Krals were the stars of this match: Trinec's Richard Kral scored one goal and assisted on four others, Budejovice's Vaclav Kral recorded two goals and three assists. In the 26th round, Ceske Budejovice beat Zlin, ending Zlin's 10-game streak without a loss, and then defeated Sparta, which is now playing terribly. Opava goalkeeper Pavel Cagas helped his team defeat Karlovy Vary by recording his fifth shutout this season and adding another assist. The Extraleague will not play again until December 27, while the national team will play three friendly matches (against Canada and Slovakia) and will participate in the international Baltica Cup in Moscow. Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer Hasek and Jagr Lead NHL All-Star Game Voting Buffalo Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek and Pittsburgh Penguins wing Jaromir Jagr lead the fans' voting for the all-world team (i.e., the best players in the NHL who are not from the United States or Canada) for the match against the best North-American players, the 1999 All-Star Game, to be played January 24 in Tampa. Hasek got 90,591 votes by December 8, Jagr 86,524 votes. Third-place Nicklas Lidstroem of Sweden is some 14,000 votes behind Jagr. Petr Wilfer/Mirek Langer Candidates for Soccer Player of the Year Announced Two weeks before the award will be presented, the Olympia publishing announced the names of the 10 candidates for the 1998 Soccer Player of the Year. The top three finishers from last year's poll are on the list: Jiri Nemec (Schalke 04), Vladimir Smicer (Racing Lens) and Pavel Nedved (Lazio Rome). They are accompanied by Miroslav Baranek (Sparta Praha), Patrik Berger (Liverpool FC), Vratislav Lokvenc (Sparta Praha), Karel Poborsky (Benfica Lisbon), Tomas Repka (AC Fiorentina), Radomir Sloncik (Banik Ostrava) and Jan Suchoparek (Racing Strassbourg). The winner of the poll will be announced in Pilsen December 21. National team coach Jozef Chovanec, Olomouc's Milan Boksa and Teplice's Josef Pesice are the candidates for the title of Coach of the Year. Tomas Dosek (Viktoria Plzen), Marek Heinz (Sigma Olomouc) and Roman Tyce (Munich 1860) are the three young players to compete for the Talent of the Year title. The Czech Soccer League Personality of the Year title will belong to Oldrich Machala (Sigma Olomouc), Radomir Sloncik (Banik Ostrava) or Jaroslav Silhavy (Viktoria Zizkov). Josef Koukolicek/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * Skiing World Cup leader Katerina Neumannova finished sixth in the sprint event in Milan, Italy and remains in first place. * The only Czech team in the Euro Hockey League quarterfinals, Sparta Praha, will meet Germany's Mannheim (with former Sparta player Pavel Gross as captain) January 5 and 12. * Soccer forward Jan Koller recorded his 13th goal this season for the Belgian team Lokeren. Other Czech players in foreign clubs succeeded in scoring this past week: Patrik Berger (Liverpool), Vladimir Smicer (Lens, France) and Tomas Galasek (Tilburg, Netherlands). * The Czech national basketball team won in an important match in Latvia 73-60 December 9 and strengthened its chances to advance to the European Championships. Jiri Zidek was the leading scorer of the game with 17 points. * Antonin Panenka celebrated his 50th birthday December 2. He was a member of the national soccer team which won the 1976 European Championships, thanks to Panenka's famous penalty kick in the final. * The marketing partner of the Czech Tennis Union, the Teleaxis company, announced major changes in the Czech tennis. Director Petr Kovarcik promised 1 billion crowns during the next five years. Teleaxis organizes three tournaments in the Czech Republic: the Czech Open on the clay courts in Prague (and where prize money will grow to 500,000 USD), the IPB Czech Indoor in Ostrava and women's BVV Czech Open in Brno. Josef Koukolicek, Petr Wilfer, Pavel Sladky, Petr Novy/Mirek Langer WEATHER So everything is covered in white again. St. Nicholas has brought not only presents, possibly pieces of coal, but also snow drifts. It has been snowing hard, in the northern and northeastern parts of the country the snow even caused a state of emergency. For once it was not the fault of road maintenance workers. Drifts of this kind are not manageable even if the number of workers had been doubled. Otherwise it is freezing (minus 10 degrees Celsius/14 degrees Fahrenheit) and the frosty weather stays around all day. I do not believe in predictions that Christmas will be white. I am convinced that the snow in Bohemia is quite miraculous, and could melt completely on the morning of December 25. Marketa Lajdova/Katerina Kolarova 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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