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 THE CZECH REPUBLIC Charles University in Prague Faculty of Social Sciences Smetanovo nabr. 6 Q 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 321, Friday, February 26, 1999. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK (February 17 - February 24) UK and US Embassies Closed by Terrorist Threat The British and American embassies were closed to the public February 18 for security reasons. The threat of terrorist attack was mentioned, but American and British diplomats did not specify the source of the threat. The emergency security measures were most often connected with the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan, head of the Kurdish Workers' Party, and also with the patrol of Iraqi no-flight zones by American and British aircraft. During the weekend armed policemen guarded the embassies, which opened again February 22. Similar measures were taken by the American radio stations Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which increased security in their Prague buildings and temporarily reduced their number of employees. Broadcasting was not affected. Alena Smrzova/Sofia Karakeva Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem Visits Czech Republic Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan (Social Democrat) met with his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem February 18. After the meeting Cem announced that Abdullah Ocalan, head of the Kurdish Workers' Party will be tried but not by a military court. He also indicated that Turkey will not accept any international interference in the Ocalan case. According to the Czech daily Pravo February 19, Cem said, "The times of colonial governments that controlled their colonies have been gone for a long time. And if anyone considers themselves such a government, they should look for a country other than Turkey." Kavan said the Czech Republic has taken note of the aspirations of the Kurd nation but at the same time rejects any terrorist action. Cem also met with Czech President Vaclav Havel February 18. Havel, through spokesman Ladislav Spacek, said Ocalan's trial should be as transparent as possible, because such an approach would best help calm the continuing Kurdish protests in Europe against Ocalan's arrest. Pavlina Hodkova/Sofia Karakeva Freedom Union Changes Leadership, Will Not Discuss Coalition with CSSD Jan Ruml remains chairman of the Freedom Union (Unie svobody, US), but among the four vice chairmen only Petr Mares was re-elected. Karel Kuhnl was elected first vice chairman, while Jiri Lobkowicz and Vladimir Mlynar are new faces for party leadership. The vote was taken during the weekend in Nymburk at the congress of the smallest Parliament party (19 seats of 200). The congress also discussed the question of with whom the party would form a possible coalition. The party decided to deal only with parties to the right of the political center that have at least partly compatible programs. Vaclav Klaus, chairman of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), attended the meeting as a guest and proposed to the delegates a common future without regard for past conflicts (the Freedom Union was created by former ODS members after ODS financing affairs and after Ruml and Ivan Pilip in November 1997 publicly asked Klaus to resign as ODS chairman while he was visiting Sarajevo). "It is not possible to expect that something extraordinary will happen tomorrow, but it is a significant step in our relations and it is necessary to continue further," said Ruml, according to the Czech daily Lidove noviny. Radan Dolejs/Sofia Karakeva Police and BIS Strike against Skinhead Movement Skinheads were planning to meet in Line, near Pilsen (Plzen) February 20 for a Swedish neo-Nazi band's farewell concert for the leader of the Bohemia Hammer Skins, who in April will begin serving a prison sentence for aggravated assault. But police, together with the Security Information Service (BIS), one day earlier arrested three skinhead leaders of an organization connected with the international neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour. During the raid police seized material propagating nazism and the movement's accounting books, which contain contributor information. According to police representatives, the roundup might paralyze the extremist movement for some time; the concert was cancelled. Radan Dolejs/Sofia Karakeva NEWS IN BRIEF * The election to the Senate of Dagmar Lastovecka (Civic Democratic Party, ODS), the former mayor of Brno, was upheld by a decision of the Constitutional Court in Brno February 18. The Constitutional Court overturned the December decision of the Supreme Court, which accepted the complaint of the Social Democrats that the Election Act had been broken when Lastovecka appeared in the daily Lidove noviny and on Czech Television less than 48 hours before the election. The act prohibits media appearances by candidates in the 48 hours preceding the elections. * Prime Minister Milos Zeman met his Polish counterpart Jerzy Buzek in Ostrava February 19. They agreed on the need to support Slovakia's effort to join NATO and the European Union. * President Vaclav Havel's political adviser Jiri Pehe is going to leave his position as head of the Presidential Office's Political Department May 15. He said he is leaving because of the fatigue of being in the role of a state bureaucrat. He said he would like to return to the ranks of independent observers who are able to react swiftly and to comment on political events without the limits of having an office. Pehe will stay close to Havel as an external adviser. Alena Smrzova, Pavlina Hodkova/Milan Smid FROM SLOVAKIA Former SIS Boss in Kidnapping of Kovac's Son Meciar Rejects Charges of SIS Anti-Czech Activity Former Director of Slovak Information Agency (Slovenska informacni sluzba, SIS) Ivan Lexa participated in the kidnapping of former President Michal Kovac's son. This information is in the classified report of SIS Director Vladimir Mitro, which leaked out February 18. Mitro reports that the kidnapping of Michal Kovac Jr. in the summer of 1995 was one of the first SIS operations under Lexa and was part of a campaign against President Kovac. "The kidnapping was managed by SIS Deputy Director Svetocha and supervised personally by Lexa. Lexa on the day of the kidnapping, August 31, 1995, was in the SIS building near the Autrian-Slovak border," said the report. Mitro's report also contains information about SIS activities in neighboring countries (Carolina 320). Former Slovak Premier Vladimir Meciar rejected the reports' conclusions in an open letter to Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman. "I proclaim on my honor and to the best of my conscience that neither the Government of the Slovak Republic, its members, the Defense Council nor any other authorities worked against the basic interests of the Czech Republic, all the more so because our interests were identical," said the letter. Marketa Lajdova/Jakub Jirovec Magda Vasaryova Will Run for President Magda Vasaryova, former actress and former Czechoslovak ambassador to Vienna, confirmed February 18 that she is a candidate for the office of president. Vasaryova was proposed by an independent citizen initiative one month earlier (see Carolina 316). "I am not a politician, I don't represent any political party. I want to be the new face of Slovakia and a confirmation of the changes of 1989 and 1998," said Vasaryova in the Czech daily Pravo. Vasaryova is mainly supported by young, well-educated people and inhabitants of larger towns and cities. In the first direct election of the Slovak president Vasaryova will compete against former President Michal Kovac, official candidate of the governing coalition Rudolf Schuster and legislator Juraj Svec. The opposition Movement for a Democratic Slovakia has not yet revealed the name of its candidate. Marketa Lajdova/Jakub Jirovec First Slovak in Space Pilot Ivan Bella, 35, is the first Slovak in space. Bella, who was selected from 32 pilots, left February 20 with Russian and French astronauts for the Russian Mir space station. Bella will spend nine days there. The idea of a Slovak space mission was born during the reign of former Premier Vladimir Meciar, who arranged the operation with his Russian counterpart Viktor Chernomyrdin. The space flight of the first Slovak was planned to increase Meciar's popularity. The costs of the flight, around 20 million USD, must now be paid by the government of the Premier Mikulas Dzurinda. Marketa Lajdova/Jakub Jirovec ECONOMY Mertlik's Report Evaluates Czech Society's Status According to the Report on the State of Czech Society, which Deputy Prime Minister for economic policy Pavel Mertlik presented to the Government February 24, the Czech Republic's foreign indebtedness exceeded the internationally accepted safety level by 3 per cent. The safety level is considered to be 40 per cent of the gross domestic product. At the end of the third quarter of 1998, foreign debt was 24.4 billion USD, which means, compared to the end of 1989, a growth of 300 per cent. The Czech Republic exceeded the safety level in 1996. One of the issues the report deals with is rating of success of particular types of company ownership, measured by value added per employee. Considering this fact, concerns privatized by sale to foreign partners are much more successful than state-run companies and those privatized to domestic owners. Companies privatized by the voucher method show the worst results. Pavlina Hodkova/Denisa Vitkova Lubomir Soudek Recalled from All Posts in Skoda Pilsen After lengthy urging from Commerce Bank (KB) and the Investment and Postal Bank (IPB), the supervisory board of Skoda Pilsem (Plzen) recalled Lubomir Soudek from the offices of board chairman and general director. Soudek accepted the decision, although his company NERo still remains the largest shareholder in Skoda. The new general manager is Jiri Hlavica, who held the office of first board vice chairman. Hlavica has also been entrusted with managing the board until a fifth member will be named and a new chairman elected. The majority in the supervisory board, which decides company strategy, belongs to representatives of the Commerce Bank, the Investment and Postal Bank and the National Property Fund (FNM). Analysts welcomed Soudek's exit as well, and said it is the beginning of a new era for the company. More changes will be necessary, because the value of Skoda is continuing to decline. The same day that Soudek was recalled it became known that Societe Generale had February 5 filed a bankruptcy petition against Skoda Pilsen. An unnamed source from the bank confirmed this for the daily Hospodarske noviny. The economic weekly Euro published the same news February 22. Commerce Bank said it does not support resolving the company's situation in court, but wants to continue the revitalization of Skoda in line with creditors' interests. Pavlina Hodkova/Denisa Vitkova ECONOMY IN BRIEF * The downturn in foreign trade in January expected by economists came true - the trade balance for the month wound up with a deficit of 2.5 billion crowns; exports were 59.8 billion crowns and imports 62.3 billion crowns. Compared to January 1998, exports declined by 8.8 per cent and imports by 11.6 per cent. * The Social Democrat Government of Prime Minister Milos Zeman February 17 agreed to the request of the Prague Congress Center to issue the bonds worth 60 billion USD. These will be used to finance the reconstruction of the Congress Center for the annual conference of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in September 2000. Pavlina Hodkova/Denisa Vitkova Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid February 26) ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 EUR = 38.085 CZK country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 21.658 Great Britain 1 GBP 55.121 Denmark 1 DKK 5.105 Japan 100 JPY 28.580 Canada 1 CAD 22.965 IMF 1 XDR 46.861 Hungary 100 HUF 15.037 Norway 1 NOK 4.362 New Zealand 1 NZD 18.204 Poland 1 PLN 8.819 Greece 100 GRD 11.771 Slovakia 100 SKK 86.401 Slovenia 100 SIT 19.993 Sweden 1 SEK 4.240 Switzerland 1 CHF 23.877 USA 1 USD 34.405 Exchange Rates of countries particpating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 19.416 Belgium 100 BEF 94.138 Finland 1 FIM 6.387 France 1 FRF 5.789 Ireland 1 IEP 48.218 Italy 1000 ITL 19.612 Luxemburg 100 LUF 94.138 Netherlands 1 NLG 17.232 Portugal 100 PTE 18.942 Austria 1 ATS 2.760 Spain 100 ESP 22.823 CULTURE New Czech Movie Return of The Idiot Enters Cinemas The new Czech movie Return of The Idiot had its gala premiere in Prague's Lucerna Cinema February 24. Director and writer Sasa Gedeon found the inspiration in Dostoyevsky's Idiot. Brno theater actor Pavel Liska plays the protagonist, Frantisek. The relationship between Frantisek and Dostoyevsky's Myshkin is evident, but Gedeon's story takes place in contemporary society. Tatiana Vilhelmova, Anna Geislerova and Jiri Langmajer also act in the story about human relationships. Exhibit Fights against New Drug Law The experimental ensemble Pode Bal is presenting an exhibit of the works of students and graduates of the Czech Academy of Applied Arts in the exhibition halls of the Academy. The exhibit, entitled A Bigger Amount of the State Drug, displays posters which look like an typical advertisments, but the posters often contain long texts, quotations and paraphrases through which the group tries to highlight the paradox that the drug addict is persecuted and prosecuted for the possession of illegal drugs while the use of legal drugs like alcohol and cigarettes is supported by omnipresent advertisements. Through art the exhibit wants to fight against the recent amendments to the Penal Code that the group considers a violation of human rights. Ballet Dancer Stanislav Feco Awarded Ballet soloist of the National Theater Stanislav Feco was awarded the Ballet Flower Award 1998, arranged by Philip Morris in different European countries for more than 20 years. The Czech artists have been awarded for six years now. The prize for young talents, dedicted to dancers who are in their first year in their troupes, was given to Michal Stipa from Brno. The Culture section was written by Klara Nedvedova/Zuzana Janeckova SPORT Soccer: First League Starts Spring Season Among the top six teams of the Czech Soccer First League only Teplice was defeated in the opening round of the second half of the season (the 16th round overall). Sparta, Slavia, Drnovice, Olomouc and Blsany were victorious, although Slavia nearly lost its game in Pribram where they were losing throughout the first half 0-1. With the exception of Teplice's defeat, there were no big suprises. Results of the 16th round: Zizkov - Drnovice 0-1, Pribram - Slavia 1-2, Sparta - Plzen 2-0, Ostrava - Liberec 2-0, Jablonec - Karvina 1-1, Brno - Opava 4-1, Blsany - Teplice 3-2, Olomouc - Hradec Kralove 1-0. Standings after the 16th round:: 1. Sparta 34 points, 2.Teplice 31, 3. Drnovice 30, 4. Slavia 28, 5. Olomouc 27, 6. Blsany 26, 7. Ostrava 22, 8. Zizkov 21, 9. Opava 20, 10. Brno 19, 11. Hradec Kralove 16, 12. Liberec 16, 13. Plzen 15, 14. Jablonec 14, 15. Pribram 13, 16. Karvina 12. Hockey Extraleague - Results and Standings Results of the 43rd round: Litvinov - Trinec 4-3, Zlin - K.Vary 8-2, Vitkovice - Jihlava 5-1, Plzen - Kladno 3-1, C.Budejovice - Pardubice 2-2, Slavia - Vsetin 2-5, Opava - Sparta 0-4. Results of the 44th round: Vsetin - Vitkovice 6-3, Trinec - Opava 7-0, Pardubice - Plzen 3-3, K.Vary - Slavia 4-4, Jihlava - C.Budejovice 0 - 5, Kladno - Litvinov 1-1, Sparta - Zlin 3-4. Results of the 45th round: Zlin - Trinec 4-1, C.Budejovice - Vsetin 2-2, Sparta - K.Vary 4-1, Vitkovice - Slavia 5-2, Opava - Kladno 4-1, Litvinov - Pardubice 2-5, Plzen - Jihlava 4-2. Standings: 1. Vsetin 66 points, 2. Zlin 63, 3. Sparta 55, 4. Trinec 53, 5. Plzen 53, 6. Ceske Budejovice 46, 7. Vitkovice 46, 8. Pardubice 46, 9. Litvinov 41, 10. Slavia 40, 11. Karlovy Vary 34, 12. Opava 33, 13. Kladno 32, 14. Jihlava 20. Bronze Medal for Neumannova at the World Championships Katerina Neumannova won the bronze medal in the 5km classic cross-country event at the Nordic Skiing World Championships that started February 19 in Ramsau, Austria. She finished 18 seconds behind winner Bente Martinsen of Norway. Second-best was Russian Olga Danilova. Two days earlier Neumannova gave up in the 15km freestyle cross-country event because of her total exhaustion in the blizzard. The Czech skiing team has not won any other medals so far. Milan Kucera finished 10th in the Nordic combined event. WEATHER To be brief: it's ugly outside. However, that will not suffice for the weather section. Well, the snow started to melt here in the lowlands (and the fair is going to start February 27 in Prague). In my opinion, there must be a wild party in Heaven, because something is permanently dropping from the sky. At least someone is having fun. We mortals in the lowlands try to keep smiling in streets full of slush (the thermometer shows temperatures above zero) and people who live in the highlands are not laughing in freezing weather with avalanches all about. However, we are not hanging our heads, because we still believe that spring is coming soon. We believe it in spite of the fact that one of my colleagues offended the messenger of spring - the groundhog - in Carolina recently (see Carolina 318). Marketa Lajdova/Katerina Kolarova English version edited by Michael Bluhm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with attribution to CAROLINA. Subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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