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 314, Friday, January 8, 1999 FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST THREE WEEKS (from December 16 - January 6) Havel Expresses Caution and Trust in New Year's Address In his traditional New Year's address, President Vaclav Havel emphasized the things he finds disquieting in the contemporary Czech Republic. His speech, recorded before Christmas (Havel spent the holidays with his wife in Spain), aired January 1 on Czech Television and Czech Radio. Havel warned about "a great number of walls" again dividing Czech society. These walls show themselves through disrespect for human rights and through racism and xenophobia. Havel also talked about strange walls in politics and indirectly criticized the practices and rhetoric of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS): "once more we have here barricades, mobilization, closed ranks, disciplined movements and various traitors." The president also thanked all citizens creating values that improve life in the country and its culture. He also expressed his thanks to Czech expatriates, who are spiritually and emotionally connected with the Czech lands and help the country in a number of ways. In the end of his speech Havel said he believes in Czech society and its ability to deal with its problems successfully, which will help the country in becoming a member of NATO. The New Year's address received mixed reactions from politicians across the political spectrum. The Social Democrats and Christian Democrats agreed with Havel's points and said they found the speech inspiring. Politicians from ODS were more critical, ODS Chairman Vaclav Klaus said, "Let's do the maximum to move forward and let's do it in the form of dialogue and not monologue." Marketa Lajdova/Jakub Jirovec Dutch Television Claims Corruption Influenced SPT Telecom Privatization Czech politicians and officials are suspected of taking bribes from the Dutch KPN telecommunications company during the 1995 privatization of SPT Telecom, the monopoly telecommunications provider in the Czech Republic, according to a report on the Dutch television station KRO. KRO January 3 broadcast claims that TelSource, the Dutch-German consortium in which KPN has a majority, paid bribes to gain a 27-per-cent share in SPT Telecom. SPT Telecom small shareholders' representative Martin Mosinger claims the bribes came to about 270 million crowns. The Dutch government, the majority owner of KPN, said it wants to work with the Czech government in investigating the affair. The Czech government's Committee for the Protection of Czech Economic Interests was previously assigned the SPT Telecom privatization for investigation. The Czech police are also investigating. Klara Nedvedova, Linda Kholova/Michael Bluhm Czech Politicians Express Understanding for Attack on Iraq An absolute majority of Czech politicians, led by President Vaclav Havel, declared understanding for the reasons that led the USA and Britain to attack Iraq in December. On the other hand, they expressed disappointment with the failure of diplomacy. The Foreign Ministry said it emphasizes the importance of diplomatic solutions, but also believes in the responsibility of the Iraqi government for the escalation of the crisis. Meeting Parliament deputies, Foreign Minister Jan Kavan said that since the attack has no United Nations mandate, the action has no legal backing. The only ones to express disagreement with the bombing were the Communists. According to party Chairman Miroslav Grebenicek, the attack does not correspond to the policy of the UN Security Council and has no regard for the thousands of civilian lives in danger. A protest demonstration by some 70 Muslim students took place in front of the American Embassy in Prague. Petr Wilfer/Zuzana Janeckova Petr Uhl Plans to Take down Lety Slaughterhouse Government representative for human rights Petr Uhl said he intends to replace the Lety pig slaughterhouse which stands on the site of a former Romany (Gypsy) concentration camp from World War II. According to Uhl, the finances will be partly covered by donations and partly by the state. A park with a holocaust monument should be erected on the site. Today, there is a small monument in the cemetery, which used to be part of the concentration camp. Uhl's intention is supported by Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Rychetsky. The Romany Independent Intiative said it considers fundraising a way for the government to shirk its responsibility. Jan Mates/Zuzana Janeckova NEWS IN BRIEF * To gain Czech citizenship, Czech-American Jirina Fuchsova held a hunger strike at the end of December in front of the Office of the Government. For a long time Fuchsova has been organizing in Los Angeles petitions for establishing dual citizienship for Czechs. Fuchsova camped in front of the Government Office December 28-29, and after a telephone conversation with Interior Minister Vaclav Grulich she expressed her thanks to the authorities and ended her protest. She is leaving the Czech Republic January 27, and said if she does not get citizienship by then she is ready to continue her protests. * Former Senate Chairman Petr Pithart (independent for the Christian Democrats), recently succeeded by Libuse Benesova (Civic Democratic Party, ODS), was elected one of the Senate's vice chairmen December 26 at the first session since the November elections. Other vice chairmen are Premysl Sobotka (ODS), Jaroslav Musial and Ivan Havlicek (both Social Democrats, CSSD). Freedom Union (US) Chairman Jan Ruml also was a candidate. * President Vaclav Havel December 31 recalled his Chief of Staff Ivan Medek. The president named former Czech Television general director Ivo Mathe to replace Medek. The same day, Pavel Tigrid left his post as Havel's advisor for Czech-German relations. Tigrid said he wants to concentrate fully on being co-chairman of the presidium of Coordination Council of the Czech-German Forum. * Parliament deputy and former Interior Minister Cyril Svoboda announced January 4 that he will run for the post of the chairman of the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) at the party congress in May. His opponent will be party Vice Chairman Jan Kasal, who has been leading the party since former Chairman Josef Lux resigned because of leukemia in September. Another possible candidate, Miroslav Kalousek, announced he will not run and gave his supports to Kasal. Jan Mates/Lenka Nejezchlebova International Student Week in Ilmenau The role of the media in economy and politics and perceptions of other cultures will be discussed by students from all around the world at a youth gathering in Ilmenau, Germany. The fourth year of the conference will be held May 8-16 by the Technical University of Ilmenau under the motto Celebrating Diversity. There will be lectures, debates and artistic activity. It is possible to get further information and an aplication form on the Internet (http://www.rz.tu-ilmenau.de/-iswi/iswi99). The deadline for applications is February 15. The school's address is Technical University of Ilmenau, P.O.Box 100565, 98684 Ilmenau, Germany. Jakub Jirovec/Jakub Jirovec FROM SLOVAKIA Local Election Results Mixed The government parties and the opposition declared victory in Slovak local elections December 19-20. The most seats were gained by independent candidates, who will become mayors in 816 townships. Former Premier Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakian (HZDS) did not win a single mayoral post in any County seats, but on the whole they will take over 602 town halls, which is 156 more than in the previous election four years ago. This was also the best election result of any party. The decline of the movement, which fell into the opposition after last year's general election, did not continue. The ruling Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) started as five different parties. The Party of Democratic Left (SDL') did the best and gained 401 mandates, about 100 less than in the last election. The other government coalition parties also showed a decline, but they did garner six of eight mayoral posts in county seats and also an important victory in Bratislava, where former Premier Jozef Moravcik became the mayor by beating HZDS/Slovak National Party (SNS) candidate Julius Binder. Chairman of the Party of Civic Understanding (SOP) and Kosice Mayor Rudolf Schuster defended his position easily in the second-biggest Slovak city. Jan Slota, chairman of the nationalist SNS, also defended his post as mayor of Zilina and would not rule out a run for the presidency. SNS surprisingly won the mayoral race in Nitra, thanks to its chairman emeritus Jozef Prokes. Another interesting result was that mayors in many county seats are independent candidates. Fifty-four per cent of voters took part in the election, which is about 2 per cent more than in 1994. The highest turnout was recorded in smaller districts and in eastern Slovakia, where almost three-quarters of the voters came out. In bigger districts the turnout was about 30 per cent - 40 per cent. Jan Moravek/Jan Martinek ECONOMY 1998 Deficit More Than 26 Billion Crowns According to preliminary statistics, the 1998 state fiscal year will show a deficit of more than 26 billion crowns. The original budget was balanced and called for revenues and expenditures of 536.6 billion crowns. Revenues wound up at 537.5 billion crowns and expenditures at 563.8 billion crowns. The deficit was partially caused by the losses of Consolidation Bank (10.4 billion crowns), uncollected taxes (13 billion crowns), an unexpected increase in state pensions (6 billion crowns) and a guarantee for the Czech Savings Bank (4.1 billion crowns). Pavlina Hodkova/Michael Bluhm Czech National Bank Again Reduces Interest Rates In the second half of 1998 the Czech National Bank lowered interest rates eight times - for the last time and by a surprising margin December 22. The 14-day repo rate was reduced from 10.5 per cent to 9.5 per cent, the discount rate from 10 per cent to 7.5 per cent and the Lombard rate from 15 per cent to 12.5 per cent. The central bank wants to foster growth with the cuts, though economists say it will take six months for results to be visible. The reductions will make it easier for firms to borrow money for investment, though bank depositors will receive lower returns. Pavlina Hodkova/Michael Bluhm Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid January 7) ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 EUR = 34.860 CZK Exchange Rate of the euro ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 17.824 Belgium 100 BEF 86.416 Luxemburg 100 LUF 86.416 Spain 100 ESP 20.951 France 1 FRF 5.314 Ireland 1 IEP 44.263 Italy 1000 ITL 18.004 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.819 Austria 1 ATS 2.533 Portugal 100 PTE 17.388 Finland 1 FIM 5.863 Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank --------- Australia 1 AUD 18.468 Great Britain 1 GBP 49.129 Denmark 1 DKK 4.684 Japan 100 JPY 26.520 Canada 1 CAD 19.614 IMF 1 XDR 41.988 Hungary 100 HUF 13.910 Norway 1 NOK 3.987 New Zealand 1 NZD 15.857 Poland 1 PLN 8.698 Greece 100 GRD 10.789 Slovakia 100 SKK 81.496 Slovenia 100 SIT 18.552 Sweden 1 SEK 3.736 Switzerland 1 CHF 21.608 USA 1 USD 29.647 CULTURE Sixtieth Anniversary of Karel Capek's Death Writer, playwright, journalist, poet and author of books for children Karel Capek died 60 years ago - December 25, 1938. Capek, a humanist who went beyond the horizon of literature, succumbed to the flu followed by inflammation of the kidneys and lungs at age 49. Some 200 mostly elderly admirers of Capek's immortal works visited the graves of Capek and his wife Olga Scheinpfugova at the Vysehrad Cemetery Christmas Day. The bulk of them were members of the Karel Capek Society, which celebrated 50 years of existence last year. During the ceremony, society Chairman Josef Protiva quoted some of Capek's works. Apart from other thoughts, Protiva mentioned one from 1938: "The nation can feel immortal only when it has a conscious moral mission." Writers' Community Chairman Antonin Jelinek quoted another idea, also applicable today: "We are tempted to say that there are not great or small circumstances, only great or small people. Not just a region or a county or a small town but even a village should be proud of itself and its work. The rise of democracy is possible only in the form of civic autonomy. There is no better example of the absence of politics from our life than in the decline of self-rule." Another quote came from 1928 - the writer wished the young republic besides good will, honor and respect also "a press which does not lie and a Parliament, which would be the flower of the nation." Tomas Polacek/Katerina Kolarova SPORTS World Criticizes Light Punishment for Korda's Doping at Wimbledon The doping test Petr Korda took after his lost Wimbledon quarterfinal was positive for nandrolon, according to the representatives of the anti-doping program of the International Tennis Federation. This information was published more than half a year after the end of Wimbledon and was connected with the ITF Appeals Committee's decision. It acknowledged Korda did not take the drug knowingly yet took from him the points and money won in Wimbledon, but it did not ban him from playing. The German press criticized the decision and the ITF. The critics took aim primarily at the lightness of the punishment, because they do not admire the player's written declaration as evidence of innocence. The daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung stamped the case as the biggest doping affair in tennis. Wimbledon winner Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands joined the critics. Korda, however, insists his conscience is clear. He said the investigation of the case was a great burden on his psyche and his performances. "It will be very difficult to deal with it. I know that a lot of people do not believe me now and will never believe me. It is like Cain's sign, which I will never shake off," he said. Josef Koukolicek and Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer After deadline: The ITF announced it will file a protest against the decision of the Appeals Committee and will ask for one-year ban. Phenomenal Goalkeeper Dominik Hasek Named Athlete of Year The announcement of the 40th Athlete of the Year poll results December 19 in Prague's Zofin Palace was carried by the wave of the national hockey team's success in the Nagano Olympics. Goalkeeper Dominik Hasek's win was one of the most conclusive in recent years. He repeated his triumph from 1994. Cross country skier Katerina Neumannova finished second and another hockey player, Jaromir Jagr, took the imaginary bronze medal. Her Wimbledon win was enough only for fourth place for Jana Novotna, while Australian Open champion Petr Korda wound up worse - in eighth place. In the teams category, the winner was still more clear then among the individuals. Behind the Nagano Olympics winners, the World Championships national hockey team and the national soccer team placed. The hockey team, winner of the "Tournament of the Century," also finished in first place in the Sport Star poll, organized by Czech Television, in which some 360,000 people voted. Josef Koukolicek/Mirek Langer Soccer Player of the Year Is Pavel Nedved After being announced the winner of the Czech Golden Ball, Pavel Nedved took also the title of the Player of the Year. In the poll, which included the votes of coaches, functionaries and journalists, Nedved defeated Vladimir Smicer and Radek Sloncik. Nedved is a midfielder for Lazio Rome, where he signed a contract until 2004. Last year's winner and national team captain Jiri Nemec finished fifth. National team coach Jozef Chovanec was elected coach of the year. Viktoria Plzen forward Tomas Dosek won among the three young candidates for the Talent of the Year title. Jaroslav Silhavy from Viktoria Zizkov, who broke the record for the number of matches played in the first soccer league, was elected the Personality of the Year. Soccer is no longer a sport only for men, as the winner of the Female Player of the Year was announced also: Sparta Praha's Pavlina Scasna finished first in this category. She is the daughter of the Sparta men's team coach Zdenek Scasny. Josef Koukolicek/Mirek Langer Baltica Cup: Czech Team Finishes Second The Czech national hockey team finished second in the third event of the Euro Hockey Tour, the Baltica Cup in Moscow. Sweden took first place and Finland third, ahead of Russia and Canada. Sweden also leads the standings of the Tour, the Czech team is third. The Czech team participated in Moscow without Vsetin players, which prepared themselves for the Spengler Cup, and without some injured players, but it played its best this season. It defeated Finland 3-0 in the first match, and against Russia was losing 1-3 at the end of the second period but scored four goals in six minutes, as the match finished with a 5-3 Czech win. The Swedish win over the Czech team then determined the winner of the tournament. The "Tre Kronor" were better in the first period and took a two-goal lead. Then the Czechs came back, reducing the Swedish advantage with Caloun's goal. Despite some chances at the end of the match, the Swedish defense held on for the 2-1 win. The last match was only a formality for the Czech team, which defeated Canada 6-3. Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer Worst Result in History of Junior Hockey World Championships The Czech junior team finished seventh (its worst finish ever) in the hockey Junior World Championships in Brandon and Winnipeg in Canada. Results: Group: Czech Republic - Slovakia 2-3, CR - United States 6-3, CR - Canada 0-2, CR - Finland 3-4. Relegation group: CR - Belarus 10-2, CR - Switzerland 5-4. The Czechs' first opponent, Slovakia, finished in third place, its best finish ever. Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer Hockey Extraleague: Sparta, with New Coach Richter, Smashes Opava After the Christmas break, the Staropramen Hockey Extraleague continued without Trinec and Slavia, which had games either played early or postponed due to players taking part in the junior World Championships in Canada. Pavel Richter succeeded in his premiere on the Sparta Praha bench, where he replaced Julius Supler. Sparta scored 10 goals in Opava's net. In the next game in Zlin it earned one point for a tie, Zlin's 13th draw this season. Kladno continued playing well, defeating Budejovice and Plzen, until Litvinov ended Kladno's six-games streak withou a loss. Goalkeeper Zdenek Orct recorded his fifth shutout this season in the match and he decided the result by saving 50 Kladno shots. Results of the 29th round: Vitkovice - Pardubice 4-3, Opava - Zlin 2-2, Litvinov - Sparta 1-5, Ceske Budejovice - Kladno 1-3, Vsetin - Karlovy Vary 5-1, Plzen - Trinec 2-2 (preplayed), Slavia - Jihlava delayed till January 12. Results of the 30th round: Karlovy Vary - Zlin 6-8, Jihlava - Vitkovice 2-6, Kladno - Plzen 4-1, Pardubice - Ceske Budejovice 4-1, Sparta - Opava 10-1, Vsetin - Slavia 5-1, Trinec - Litvinov 2-2. Results of the 31st round: Vitkovice - Vsetin 1-2, Zlin - Sparta 2-2, Litvinov - Kladno 1-0, Ceske Budejovice 2-2, Plzen - Pardubice 5-2, Slavia - Karlovy Vary 4-4, Opava - Trinec delayed till January 12. Standings after the 31st round: 1. Vsetin 45 points, 2. Zlin 43, 3. Trinec 41, 4. Sparta 35, 5. Plzen 35, 6. Ceske Budejovice 33, 7. Karlovy Vary 30, 8. Litvinov 28, 9. Slavia 27, 10. Vitkovice 27, 11. Pardubice 26, 12. Opava 23, 13. Kladno 23, 14. Jihlava 14. Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer European Hockey League: Sparta Loses in Mannheim, Must Win in Prague Sparta Praha, the last Czech representative in the European Hockey League, lost in the first quarterfinal match on Mannheim's ice 4-6. It has to win the rematch in Prague January 12 to force at least an overtime playoff. Power plays were the deciding factor in the game: Mannheim scored five power-play goals, Sparta none. Three times Sparta was able to tie the score, but then Mannheim took a two-goal advantage. Martinec scored two goals, Vyborny and Miroslav Hlinka each had one. Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * Only one win meant fourth place among five teams for Slovnaft Vsetin in the prestigious Spengler Cup hockey tournament in Davos, Switzerland. Results: Vsetin - Davos 2-4, Vsetin - Feldkirch (Austria) 5-4, Vsetin - Canada 4-5 on penalty shots, Vsetin - Farjestad (Sweden) 2-5. * Czech ski jumpers Jakub Suchacek, Michal Dolezal, Jakub Janda and Jakub Hlava performed poorely in the traditional Four Hills Tour (the former Intersportturnee). Only Suchacek managed to advance to all four events: He finished 14th in Oberstdorf, 19th in Ga-Pa, 21st in Innsbruck and 22nd in Bischofshofen. In the overall standings, he finished 16th. * The 21st year of the Granada-Dakar Rally started on New Year's Day. After the fifth stage January 5, the Tatra with Karel Loprais took the lead in the truck category. The reigning champion, Loprais has won the race four times. In the same truck category, Tomas Tomecek was fifth. * Ladislav Maier from Rapid Vienna won the Frantisek Planicka Award as best soccer goalkeeper of the year, defeating Tomas Postulka (Sparta Praha) and Zdenek Janos (Jablonec). * In the 13th New Year's Eve intracity derby between Sparta and Slavia former players, the Slavia old-timers won 7-4. * Petr Svoboda, who scored the only goal in the Czechs's gold-medal victory at the Nagano Olympics, was traded by the Philadelphia Flyers to the team with the NHL's worst record, the Tampa Bay Lightning. * The fifth game of the Kovopetrol Plzen men's handball team in the Champions League finished with a debacle, as Plzen lost 22-38 to Celje Pivovarna Lasko (Slovenia) and remains last in the group's standings, without a point. * Long-jumper Jarmila Nygrynova-Strejckova, one of the most famous Czech track and field athletes, a double European indoor champion and Czech record holder, died after a long illness January 5 at the age of 45. Josef Koukolicek and Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer WEATHER The weather during Christmas had something for everyone: somewhere there was snow, somewhere dry land, one only needed to choose where to be. Very gray weather introduced us to the new year, but our heavens now struggle to ensure us that the saying "As on New Year's Eve, thus for the rest of year," is not valid. There is nice spring weather outside, the sun shines and a 51-year-old temperature record was broken January 5, when the meteorologist in the Prague's Clementinum recorded 13.8 degrees Celsius/about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are preparing to come to the Czech Republic, do not pack skis, it is not below freezing in the mountains. Marketa Lajdova/Mirek Langer 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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