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 338, Friday, June 25, 1999. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (June 16 - June 23) Second Try in Local Elections Brings Little Change Political parties which abdicated their positions in 21 voting districts and made June 19's supplementary municipal elections necessary, did not realize any significant gains. Some of the parties lost ground to independent candidates. Despite the best finish of a parliamentary party in the elections (47 seats), the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) lost its battle in the largest contested district, Ceske Budejovice, when the election changed the balance of power there: the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and Communists (KSCM) increased their representation in the district's political leadership, while ODS and their Opposition Contract partner, the Social Democrats (CSSD), were on the losing side. Because ODS and Christian Democrat politicians in Ceske Budejovice cannot work together, a coalition of the Social Democrats, Christian Democrats, Freedom Union (US) and the Communists seems inevitable. The elected representatives will then elect a city council and mayor in 15 days. The Communists surprisingly brought in the second best returns in the supplementary elections with 29 seats, ahead of the Social Democrats (24 seats) and Christian Democrats (23 seats). The Freedom Union won five seats, four of them in Ceske Budejovice. Petr Novy/Milan Smid One Year after - Two MiG-21 Fighters Collide Again Two Czech Army MiG-21 planes collided while returning from a training flight and crashed in an uninhabited forest area in the Havlickuv Brod district near the villages of Macourov and Ceska Bela June 17. In contrast to a similar crash one year ago in Ceske Budejovice without casualties (see Carolina 293), this accident was fatal for two of the three pilots aboard the planes. The collision happened 10 seconds after the planes changed positions. All pilots were ejected from their planes. Whether the accident was caused by a technical flaw or by pilot error is not yet known. Czech Army Air Force Commander Ladislav Klima stopped all training flights of army planes until technical failure can be ruled out. Petr Novy/Milan Smid New Street Party without Incident The Street Party called for June 18 - and forbidden by the Prague 1 City Hall - took place without incident. Throughout the world radical ecologists and anarchists organized demonstrations that day against economic globalization, while Prague demonstration organizer Slavomir Tesarek from the Against the Flow and Rainbow Keepers movements read the letter from City Hall denying permission to demonstrate to those gathered on Prague's Jungmann Square (Jungmannovo namesti) and then walked with them down National Avenue (Narodni trida) and across Legions' Bridge (Most legii). Petr Novy/Michael Bluhm General Pika Executed 50 Years Ago Fifty years ago, on June 21, 1949, General Heliodor Pika was sentenced to death for supposed military treason by the State Court in Prague. Participants in the trial included the new Czechoslovak StB secret police and the Soviet secret services and the sentence was confirmed by a five-member group of the Communist Party's Central Committee led by President Klement Gottwald. Pika was rehabilitated in 1968 by a military Court. His execution was the first capital punishment in Czechoslovakia after the Communists took power in a coup in February 1948. Jakub Jirovec/Jakub Jirovec NEWS IN BRIEF * Macedonia President Kiro Gligorov arrived June 21 in Prague for a one-day visit. Gligorov was welcomed by President Vaclav Havel at Prague Castle, where they talked mainly about the situation in Kosovo. Gligorov said he supported free elections in Kosovo as soon as possible under the supervision of international forces. He also said to the daily Pravo that Macedonia's priority is joining the European Union and NATO. Vladimir Vorechovsky/Jakub Jirovec FROM SLOVAKIA Singer Jozo Raz in Accident Pop group Elan's singer Jozo Raz June 20 was struck by a car while on his motorcycle. The accident was evidently not his fault, because the car, driven by a German, did not respect Raz's right of way. Raz is in a coma in a Bratislava hospital. Doctors have not given very optimistic prognoses. Vladimir Vorechovsky/Jakub Jirovec ECONOMY Czech GDP Plummets in First Quarter The Czech Statistics Office June 22 announced the Czech Republic's GDP for the first quarter of 1999 declined by 4.5 per cent, the worst decline since 1993. The greatest fall (7.1 per cent) was recorded in the area of fixed investments, while government consumption increased by 3.9 per cent and household consumption increased by 0.5 per cent. Prime Minister Milos Zeman said the feeble state of the Czech economy is the fault of former governments and in particular the recovery packages of 1997. Zeman also said his Government is halting the decline. Former Finance Minister Ivan Pilip (Freedom Union) rejected Zeman's claims, saying the Government does not have the growing budget deficit under control and is not trying to make structural changes in the economy. Czech National Bank Governor Josef Tosovsky said growth or at least stagnation of the decline should occur in the second half of this year. Jakub Jirovec/Michael Bluhm ECONOMY IN BRIEF * The Czech Republic's trade deficit for May was 900 million crowns, according to data released by the Czech Statistics Office June 22. Over the last 12 months imports have increased by 3.9 per cent, while exports have recorded a leap of 15.2 per cent, which some experts interpreted as a sign of Czech industry coming to life. The main source of the increase is the 28-per-cent increase in exports to Germany over the last 12 months. A trading deficit continues to exist with overseas nations and developing countries, while the Czech Republic maintains a positive trade balance with the countries of the EU. * At SPT Telecom's general meeting June 18, its two largest shareholders - the National Property Fund and the Transportation Ministry - succeeded in recalling almost all of company management, including General Director Stanislav Novak. Board of directors member Karel Zeman was elected chairman. Jakub Jirovec/Michael Bluhm Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid June 25) ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 EUR = 36.950 country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 23.504 Great Britain 1 GBP 56.390 Denmark 1 DKK 4.972 Japan 100 JPY 29.354 Canada 1 CAD 24.305 IMF 1 XDR 47.619 Hungary 100 HUF 14.804 Norway 1 NOK 4.554 New Zealand 1 NZD 19.170 Poland 1 PLN 9.128 Greece 100 GRD 11.384 Slovakia 100 SKK 81.432 Slovenia 100 SIT 18.944 Sweden 1 SEK 4.226 Switzerland 1 CHF 23.111 USA 1 USD 35.709 Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 18.892 Belgium 100 BEF 91.597 Finland 1 FIM 6.215 France 1 FRF 5.633 Ireland 1 IEP 46.917 Italy 1000 ITL 19.083 Luxemburg 100 LUF 91.597 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.767 Portugal 100 PTE 18.431 Austria 1 ATS 2.685 Spain 100 ESP 22.207 CULTURE E.T. Jam 99 in Prague Almost 10,000 people came to see and hear Alanis Morissette, Bryan Adams, Suzanne Vega, Crash Test Dummies at Prague's Dzban June 19 in this year's E.T. Jam festival. The Czech groups November Second, Despondancing and Syndrom Snopp opened the festival. The Finnish folk group Varttina also performed. Pavel Sladky/Zuzana Janeckova Respect 99 Earns Audiences' Respect In its second year, the Respect festival presented Romany music from various European countries, Tuaregy Ensemble Tartit from Africa and Musafir from India. The performance of Romania's Fanfare Ciocarlia - billed as the world's fastest brass band - was a great success, while the Czech groups Alom and Cilagos were also warmly received. The festival will be part of the Praha 2000 project next year. Pavel Sladky/Zuzana Janeckova Summer Shakespeare Celebrations Begin at Prague Castle The Summer Shakespeare Celebrations, carried out under President Vaclav Havel's patronage, started June 12 in the Highest Burgravery at Prague Castle. A different Shakespeare play will be performed every day in the unique historical environment - theater troupes have prepared MacBeth, As You Like It, The Twelfth Night, King Lear and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Pavel Sladky/Jakub Jirovec CULTURE IN BRIEF * The Prague Dance 99 festival kicked off June 21 in Prague's State Opera. Opening night belonged to the renowned American group the Martha Graham Dance Company. * Famed American soprano Sylvia McNair June 17 performed George Gershwin's music in Prague's Rudolfinum. * The American underground group The Residents played three concerts June 19-21 in Prague. The Residents appeared live for the first time in eight years and performed material primarily from their new Wormwood project. Katerina Kolarova/Jakub Jirovec SPORTS Soccer League Champion Sparta Praha Changes Owner and Coach Gambrinus Soccer League winner Sparta Praha, which advanced to the basic group of the 1999-2000 Champions League, got a new owner June 20. The publishing corporation Vltava-Labe-Press, owned by Germany's Passauer Neue Presse publishers, bought a majority share from the Slovak VSZ Kosice ironworks. Vltava-Labe-Press General Director Vlastimil Kostal signed a contract with the VSZ Kosice President Gabriel Eichler worth more than 300 million crowns. Sparta's books also contain 500 million crowns of debt. The new owner hired Miroslav Pelta as Sparta general director. Pelta, who came to Sparta from first-league club FK Jablonec, immediately hired a new coach - Ivan Hasek. Hasek replaces Zdenek Scasny, who once played with Hasek for Sparta and who led the club for two years and won two league titles. Hasek, who recently earned his professional coach's license, will leave his post as general secretary of the Czech Soccer Union and will probably continue his job as assistant of national team coach Jozef Chovanec. Josef Koukolicek/Mirek Langer Goalie Dominik Hasek Not Pleased after Losing Stanley Cup A goal in the 15th minute of the third overtime decided the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Buffalo Sabres and the Dallas Stars. Dallas won the game 2-1, the series 4-2 and so the only Czech name to be engraved into the cup this year will be that of Dallas substitute goalkeeper Roman Turek. Buffalo has four Czech players: star goalie Dominik Hasek, defenseman Richard Smehlik and forwards Vaclav Varada and Michal Grosek. Hasek, who made 49 saves in the deciding game, was angry about Brett Hull's winning goal. "We had bad luck. Our shots hit the bar twice and we got an improper goal at the end. The video confirmed it. The video goal judge was probably asleep, or he was in the toilet," Hasek said, remarking on Hull's skate being in the goal crease when the goal was scored. Dallas' celebrations opened with a farewell to Turek, who was traded to the St. Louis Blues immediately after the finals. Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer Jagr Is NHL's Most Valuable Player, Hasek Wins Fifth Vezina Trophy Jaromir Jagr, right winger of the Pittsburgh Penguins, won the Hart Trophy as most valuable player of the National Hockey League. He received the trophy from Wayne Gretzky. Jagr, who won the NHL regular season's scoring title with 44 goals and 83 assists, was also presented with the Lester B. Pearson Award, given to the most outstanding player as voted by the NHL Players' Association. Buffalo goalkeeper Dominik Hasek, who won the Hart Trophy the last two years, was nominated again, but in the end received "only" the Vezina Trophy as best goalkeeper. Hasek led in all the major goalie statistics for the regular season (goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts) and took his fifth Vezina Trophy. "I was thinking I would give up the Vezina to play Game Seven in the Stanley Cup Finals," Hasek said. Colorado Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk was a Calder Trophy finalist, but in the battle of the best rookies he was defeated by teammate Chris Drury. Mirek Langer/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * The Czech men's basketball team advanced from the basic group of the European Championships in France with two wins and one loss. It defeated Lithuania 78-62 and Greece 83-72 and lost to Germany 77-68. * Three Czech players advanced to the second round of Wimbledon: Jana Novotna, Jiri Novak and Daniel Vacek, who defeated compatriot Bohdan Ulihrach. Denisa Chladkova, Kvetoslava Hrdlickova, Sandra Kleinova, Ctislav Dosedel and Martin Damm were eliminated. * Banik Ostrava soccer players refused to start preparing for next season because the club has not paid their salaries since March. * Phenomenal soccer scorer of the 1940's Josef Bican and 1962 top European soccer player Josef Masopust are among the candidates for World Soccer Player of the Century. The poll is organized by the International Federation of the Soccer Historiographers and Statisticians. * Karel Gut remains Czech Ice Hockey Union president after the Union's congress. The second candidate, Frantisek Cernik, withdrew his candidacy and was elected first vice president. Miloslav Seba will be the second vice president. * The hockey extraleague changed its general sponsor after five years and will also have to change its name: instead of the Staropramen Extraleague, its new name will be the Czech Telecom Extraleague. Josef Koukolicek and Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer WEATHER It's gray and wet. Temperatures, which had still fluctuated around 20 degrees Celsius/68 degrees Fahrenheit little more than a week ago, are now struggling to get past 15 degrees Celsius/59 degrees Fahrenheit. The forecast for July calls for even more gray and wet weather. Residents of Moravia do not find much humor in the weather these days, after 50 houses were flooded in the Karvina region, the Havirov-Ostrava highway disappeared under water and some rivers have reached the third degree of flood emergency, meaning a disaster threatens. Pavel Sladky, Vladimir Vorechovsky/Michael Bluhm 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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