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. 6 110 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 322, Friday, March 5, 1999. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (February 24 - March 3) Havel and Kwasniewski Sign Ratification Document for NATO Membership Czech President Vaclav Havel and his Polish counterpart Aleksander Kwasniewski, connected in Prague and Warsaw by live television, simultaneously signed February 26 ratification documents for NATO membership. The foreign ministers will submit the documents in the USA March 12 to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary (Hungarian President Arpad Goncz signed the document earlier, he is now on a state visit abroad) will become NATO members. "The protocol I just signed has for us and our descendants truly historic meaning," said Havel. Havel had to stop his speech after the signing because of a whistle in the press room. Jan Krecek, 25, who was attending the ceremony as a journalist, protested against the Czech Republic's membership in NATO and burned a sign bearing NATO's name. He was taken from the press room by Castle guards and charged with disorderly conduct. Irena Valova of the Journalists' Syndicate described the repsonse to Krecek's act: her phone has been ringing constantly, half the callers say they agree with Prime Minister Milos Zeman's claim that journalists are fools, while the other half pass on their congratulations to Krecek, that he did it for them. Alena Smrzova/Sofia Karakeva Havel Visits France Czech President Vaclav Havel started his three-day visit in France by meeting French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac March 2. During his visit Havel will discuss European integration and Czech-French cooperation. On his agenda are a speech in the French Senate, a meeting with Czech expatriates, a ride on the TGV express train and a visit to Dijon, where the lyceum has long accepted a number of Czech students annually. Alena Smrzova/Sofia Karakeva Government Approves Report on State of Czech Society The Social Democrat Cabinet of Prime Minister Milos Zeman February 25 approved the Report on the State of Czech Society (more than 200 pages), which was presented that day by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy Pavel Mertlik (see Carolina 321). The final version should be available to the public by the end of this week, after Interior Minister Vaclav Grulich and Minister Without Portfolio Jaroslav Basta revise the part concerning crime. According to the Czech daily Slovo February 25, Mertlik said, "This country is not flowering. In relation to the European Union it is not catching up, but going backward. The gap is increasing especially since 1997." Pavla Hodkova/Sofia Karakeva Two Commissions Will Discuss Relations between Church and State Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Cardinal Miloslav Vlk during breakfast last week agreed on establishing a second commission for relations between the church and the state. They brought some calm to the tense situation recently arisen between the Government and the church. Half of the new expert commission will consist of church representatives and the other half will be named by Culture Minister Pavel Dostal. "Prime Minister Zeman promised not to nominate unfriendly people, but people of consensus, to avoid disputes within the commission," said Vlk. The Government might thus prevent further disagreement with faiths that refused to send representatives in the first political commission, because Communist deputy Dalibor Matulka was named a member. Both commissions will work on a bill on relations between state and church. Dostal said the expert commission will create various proposals, whereas the government commission, which will have more authority, should return them with comments and counterproposals. The bill should, according to Dostal, be completed in 2000. Petr Kupec/Sofia Karakeva The Black Book of Communism Appears in Czech The Czech Republic became the seventh country where worldwide bestseller The Black Book of Communism was published. The lengthy work was written by a group of renowned French historians (including Czech emigre Karel Bartosek) led by Stephane Curtois and analyzes the crimes of communist regimes around the world. The book was released February 25 - the anniversary of the 1948 Communist coup in Czechoslovakia - by the Paseka publishing house. Immediately after the book's release in France, stormy debate erupted. The most controversial part of the book was Curtois' preface, where he implies equality between Nazism and communism. "Here is the confluence of race and class genocide: the death of a Ukraine kulak's child from hunger because of Stalin's intentionally caused famine is equal to death of Jewish child in the Warsaw ghetto from hunger in a famine brought about by the Nazi regime," wrote Curtois, and adds that that the number of victims of communism number nearly 100 million. There are two reasons, continues Curtois, to write this book: to study the criminal side of communism, with the opportunity now provided by the opening of archives, and because there is a moral debt to the millions of innocent victims. The former Czechoslovakia is included in the chapter The Other Europe - Victim of Communism, written by Bartosek and Polish historian Andrzej Paczkowski. Both authors describe communist coups in central and eastern Europe after World War II, the purges of the 50's and show trials with opponents of communist regimes. The number of victims of communism in this part of Europe is, according to the authors, 1 million, most of them Polish. Both historians also find communism guilty of destroying the civic society, which began in the times of the Hapsburg monarchy. The Black Book of Communism spurred emotional discussions in the Czech Republic, too. The shop-window of Fisher Bookstore, where the book is on display, was soiled with excrement. Martin Hekrdla in the daily Pravo (the former Communist Party daily) condemned the book as "a hysterical decoration without a real lesson," because the authors compare apples and oranges (as an example, Hekrdla talks about the victims of Maoists in Peru and Sandinistas in Nicaragua). Philosopher Vaclav Belohradsky in the weekly Tyden branded the book a superficial work of journalism and warned about exploiting the dead as an argument. Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) Vice Chairman Miloslav Ransdorf said on TV NOVA that the Black Book of Communism falsifies history and appeared only because it was financed by a fanatical publisher. Curtois answered Carolina's question whether Communism has a chance in today's world: "It will not have a chance, if democracy really becomes a massive affair. Massive means that as many people as possible will take it as their own. People must understand that democracy is here for them." Jakub Jirovec/Jakub Jirovec FROM SLOVAKIA Slovak Astronaut Back on Earth The first Slovak astronaut, Ivan Bella, landed on the snow-covered steppes of Kazakhstan February 28. Gennady Padalza returned with Bella after a six-month stay in space. According to Slovak daily SME, Bella is in good physical condition. Bella said he is convinced Slovakia will continue in space missions. He will return home after three weeks spent in quarantine. Bella will then meet with Defense Minister Pavol Kanis, who officially invited him for an unofficial beer. Lieutenant Colonel Bella will be promoted to colonel and on the next state holiday will probably be promoted to the rank of general. Bella observed the evolution of quails in weightlessness. In his project, Bella tested the possibilities for human survival in space with an emphasis on diet. Jana Kadlecova/Zuzana Janeckova Gustav Krajci Will Be Prosecuted for Sabotaging Referendum Former Interior Minister and present Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) legislator Gustav Krajci will lose his official immunity and will be prosecuted for sabotaging a 1997 referendum on NATO membership and direct presidential election. His immunity was stripped by a vote of the National Assembly. By order of the Government of former Premier Vladimir Meciar, Krajci had referendum ballots printed without the question about direct presidential election. He was obligated to include this question by a petition signed by more than 500,000 people. Zuzana Janeckova/Zuzana Janeckova ECONOMY 1998 Brought Billion-Crown Losses in Two Major Financial Institutions Commerce Bank (Komercni banka, KB) and the Czech Savings Bank (Ceska sporitelna, CS), both controlled by the state, experienced the worst year of their existences. Preliminary economic returns find both mammoths deep in the red. Losses reached 9.56 billion crowns in KB and 6.94 billion crowns in CS. The financial institutions explained the collapse by the decline in economy, problems in international markets and higher minimum-reserve requirements made by the Czech National Bank. Economists agree those things occurred, but they also point out some poor decisions by the banks (loans to insolvent and non-competitive companies, too much collateral in over-appraised real estate and unsuccessful investments abroad - the Savings Bank took a bath in Russia). Pavlina Hodkova/Denisa Vitkova IN BRIEF * The state-owned Consolidation Bank recorded a loss in 1998 of 14.4 billion crowns, after a loss of 10.4 billion crowns in 1997. Its assets were 154.8 billion crowns, liabilities amounted to 172.2 billion crowns. * In February the state budget registered a surplus of 7.3 billion crowns (revenues of 81.8 billion crowns and expenditures of 74.5 billion crowns). The total budget for 1999 should end in a deficit, expected revenue amounts to 574 billion crowns and expenditures 605 billion crowns. However, economists expect the deficit to be approximately 10 billion crowns higher. * The critical state of the Prague Stock Exchange, long known in financial circles, intensified in the last week when the PX-50 Index continued nosediving under the 340 points. In January the PX-50 Index was still fluctuating around the 400-point line. Brokers panicked February 24-25 when some shares (Czech Savings Bank, Czech Energy Company - CEZ) lost 10 per cent of their value. Some experts are of the opinion that the Prague Stock Exchange is going to near extinction after trading with Czech blue chips is transferred to foreign capital markets. Pavlina Hodkova/Denisa Vitkova Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid March 5) ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 EUR = 37.590 CZK country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 21.560 Great Britain 1 GBP 55.730 Denmark 1 DKK 5.057 Japan 100 JPY 28.139 Canada 1 CAD 22.639 IMF 1 XDR 47.015 Hungary 100 HUF 14.728 Norway 1 NOK 4.358 New Zealand 1 NZD 18.237 Poland 1 PLN 8.716 Greece 100 GRD 11.681 Slovakia 100 SKK 86.301 Slovenia 100 SIT 19.903 Sweden 1 SEK 4.191 Switzerland 1 CHF 23.662 USA 1 USD 34.589 Exchange Rates of countries particpating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 19.219 Belgium 100 BEF 93.183 Finland 1 FIM 6.322 France 1 FRF 5.731 Ireland 1 IEP 47.729 Italy 1000 ITL 19.414 Luxemburg 100 LUF 93.183 Netherlands 1 NLG 17.058 Portugal 100 PTE 18.750 Austria 1 ATS 2.732 Spain 100 ESP 22.592 CULTURE Drama Sekal Must Die Wins Record 10 Czech Lions The awards of the Czech Film and Television Academy were announced for the sixth time February 27 in Prague's Lucerna Palace. A record 10 Czech Lions went to the makers of the drama Sekal Must Die (Je treba zabit Sekala): for the best picture, director (Vladimir Michalek), script (Jiri Krizan), editing (Jiri Brozek), sound (Radim Hladik, Jr.), camera (Martin Strba), and creative execution (Jiri Sternwald). Three awards for Sekal went to Poland: for best actor (Olaf Lubaszenko), best supporting actress (Agnieszka Sitekova) and music (Michal Lorenc). The previous record of six Czech Lions belonged to Oscar-winner Kolya. The crystal sculpture of the Czech Lion for best actress went to Iva Janzurova for her role in the originally student film In the Rye (Co chytnes v zite) by Roman Vavra. The Czech Lion for best supporting actor went to Miroslav Donutil for his role in Traps, Traps, Little Traps (Pasti, pasti, pasticky), directed by Vera Chytilova. Each year the award for a lifetime contribution to Czech cinematography has been awarded as well. This year, 80-year-old director Jiri Krejcik entered the imaginary Hall of Fame. Krejcik directed the films Higher Principle (Vyssi princip), Marriage Like It Oughta Be (Svatba jako remen), Pension for Single Men (Pension pro svobodne pany). According to box-office results, the most successful movie of 1998 in the Czech Republic was Titanic. The drama Saving Private Ryan won the prize of the readers of Cinema magazine. Film critics agreed with the Academy on the best film - Sekal Must Die. The movie Rapid Eye Movements (Rychle pohyby oci) was voted worst film. Zuzana Galova/Denisa Vitkova Comedie-Francaise Brilliantly Performs Moliere The legendary theater troupe Comedie-Francaise performed Moliere's comedy Scapin (Les Fourberies de Scapin) directed by Jean-Louis Benoit in Prague's National Theater February 27-28. Both performances were exceptionally well received by the public and critics spoke highly of them (daily MF DNES: Moliere a la France thrills audience; daily Lidove noviny: Comedie-Francaise triumphs in National Theatre). The flawless acting was underlined by simple scenery, framed only by light. The director said he did not let the moral message of the play disappear in a series of jokes, which often happens in Moliere's comedies. The lesser known play deals with the pranks of the servant Scapin, who tries to save his masters from their furious fathers. The play was translated to the Czech audience in subtitles. As time went by, the spectators, captivated by the excellent performance, had no need for subtitles. Pavel Sladky/Katerina Kolarova SPORTS Poor Performances in Nordic Skiing World Championships Although Katerina Neumannova won the bronze medal in the Nordic Skiing World Championships in Ramsau, Austria, finishing third in the 5km classic event, embarrassment prevails among skiers in their return home. Neumannova's medal was overshadowed by the bad performances of other athletes. Only jumper Jakub Suchacek (11th in the event on the K-90 hill) and the women's relay rose above the below-average results. The women's relay should have finished better than in seventh place, but it had no good skier for the second classic leg, where Zuzana Kocumova flopped. Cross-country skiers Lukas Bauer and Katerina Hanusova finished in the top 20 in the pursuit event. Racers in the nordic combined, other jumpers and skiers Petr Michl and Vaclav Korunka were the biggest disappointments. Unusually often the Czech representatives did not participate in the events and they also often gave up in the races. For example, Neumannova herself withdrew from the 15km freestyle event and did not start in the second part of the pursuit event because of unspecified health problems. Tomas Kohout/Mirek Langer Hockey Extraleague: Three Candidates for Two Places in Playoffs Only five rounds remain until the end of the regular session of the Staropramen Hockey Extraleague. Six teams have already secured a place in the playoffs, while Vitkovice, Pardubice and Litvinov are fighting for the last two places in the elite eight. Pardubice complicated its position with an unexpected loss to Opava on its own ice, helping Litvinov's chances. The northern-Bohemian team easily defeated Jihlava and then, missing seven players, tied Vsetin . Sixth-place Ceske Budejovice ensured its participation in the playoffs by winning a postponed game in Kladno. Budejovice managed to make a nice turnaround in its previous game: from a 3-0 deficit it defeated Vitkovice 5-3. Vsetin managed to tie a 2-0 deficit in the last minute against Plzen, but during this season the leader of the standings won no game against Plzen. In the fight for third place, Trinec smashed Sparta Praha and tied Sparta in the standings, with Plzen one point behind. Third place is important for the team which does not want to meet four-time reigning champion Vsetin before the finals. Three clubs made important changes: Trinec has a new general manager, Slavia and Karlovy Vary fired their coaches. In Trinec, Alois Hadamczik became general manager of the club February 27. Hadamczik was fired as coach after conflicts with former general manager Tomas Herstus. Hadamczik will also assist coaches Jaroslav Jagr and Kamil Konecny. Just after Hadamczik's comeback, the team smashed Sparta. "I consider it a reward for the work I did for Trinec in the past," said Hadamczik, who also arranged Ladislav Lubina's return to the squad (Lubina had been released from the team because of personal problems, see last issue of Carolina). Slavia management will not prolong the contract of coaches Richard Farda and Ladislav Slizek, who will however finish the season with the club. Also in Karlovy Vary, they have to ask for a new coach. After a televised debacle in Vitkovice the management released four players from the team and sacked assistant Karel Trachta. Head coach Josef Beranek then resigned after conflicts with players. He will be replaced by general manager Milan Kasparek till the end of the season. Results of the 46th round: Vsetin - Plzen 2-2, Trinec - Sparta Prague 7-1, Jihlava - Litvinov 1-4, Kladno - Zlin 5-1, Pardubice - Opava 1-2, Slavia Prague - Ceske Budejovice 2-4, Vitkovice - Karlovy Vary 8-0 Results of the 47th round: Opava - Jihlava 8-2, Trinec - Karlovy Vary 4-1, Zlin - Pardubice 4-2, Litvinov - Vsetin 1-1, Ceske Budejovice - Vitkovice 5-3, Sparta Prague - Kladno 6-1, Plzen - Slavia Prague 3-2 Postponed game of the 42nd round: Kladno - Ceske Budejovice 0-4 Standings: 1. Vsetin 68, 2. Zlin 65, 3. Sparta Prague 57, 4. Trinec 57, 5. Plzen 56, 6. Ceske Budejovice 52, 7. Vitkovice 48, 8. Pardubice 46, 9. Litvinov 44, 10. Slavia Prague 40, 11. Opava 37, 12. Kladno 34, 13. Karlovy Vary 34, 14. Jihlava 20. Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer Soccer Sparta Builds Advantage ahead of Teplice, Drnovice and Slavia First-place Sparta Praha took the lead early in its game in the Gambrinus Soccer League's 17th round against Karvina, but then it allowed its opponent to take momentum. That finished in the 68th minute, when Sparta scored for the second time and won by a final of 3-0. After a loss in the last round, second-place Teplice failed to win again, getting one point by winning the second half against Pribram. Blsany, which was promoted to the top league the last season, won its second spring game: it beat Olomouc 3-2. Hradec Kralove surprised Plzen, from which coach Petr Ulicny was fired after the game. He became the seventh coach to get his walking papers this season. Assistant Milan Sip will lead the team. In the televised game, Slavia did not manage to avenge its 5-0 autumn loss to Ostrava, and after a scoreless tie lost two important points in its struggle for the title. Results of the 17th round: Blsany - Olomouc 3-2, Liberec - Brno 0-0, Opava - Zizkov 2-0, Drnovice - Jablonec 1-1, Karvina - Sparta Prague 0-3, Plzen - Hradec Kralove 0-3, Teplice - Pribram 1-1, Slavia Prague - Ostrava 0-0. Standings: 1. Sparta Prague 37 points, 2. Teplice 32, 3. Drnovice 31, 4. Slavia Prague 29, 5. Blsany 29, 6. Olomouc 27, 7. Ostrava 23, 8. Opava 23, 9. Zizkov 21, 10. Brno 20, 11. Hradec Kralove 19, 12. Liberec 17, 13. Jablonec 15, 14. Plzen 15, 15. Pribram 14, 16. Karvina 12. Robin Rohrich/Mirek Langer Czech Men's Basketball Team Advances to European Championships After defeating Sweden 102-83 in Opava February 24 in the qualification game for the European Championships, the Czech Republic advanced to the final tournament, which will take place in France in June. The independent Czech Republic has never participated in the final tournament, although the former Czechoslovakia did eight years ago. The Czech team advances from third place, although it lost its last game in the qualification in Turkey, 67-86. Vladimir Vorechovsky/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * The Czech men's table tennis team advanced to the superdivision of the European League after seven years of unsuccessful attempts. It won both games against Denmark 4-1, as its star, Atlanta Olympics semifinalist Petr Korbel, won four singles and one doubles match (with Plachy). * The women of IMOS Zabovresky, winners of the qualification group of the women's basketball Euroliga, lost twice in the quarterfinals to Italy's SFT Como and did not advance to the final tournament, which will take place in its home arena in Brno. Petr Novy and Jirka Wazik/Mirek Langer WEATHER Among Carolina staff there was a difference of opinion about the weather. Some of us thought the weather was horrible, because everything started melting. Others believed the thaw meant the beginning of spring. The fact is that the temperature of 13.5 degrees Celsius/56 degrees Fahrenheit broke the record in the capital February 27. People went for a walk to enjoy the sunny weather and they lost their usual winter grumpiness. Skiers remained grumpy because the snow is rapidly melting (some snow remains on mountain peaks) but the danger of avalanche still exists. Some regions are braced for rivers to overflow. Pessimists fear flooding, optimists are looking forward to an early spring, which is traditionally announced by vendors of snowdrops and catkins in the streets. Some of us who search for the first buds and green twigs know that spring will come in 15 days. Katerina Kolarova/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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