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@cuni.cz tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 22112219 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 393, Friday, November 10, 2000 FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (November 1 - November 8) Campaign Comes to a Head before Senate and Regional Elections Senate and regional elections will take place in the Czech Republic November 12. The Senate elections cover one-third of the country's voting districts and the regional elections will occur in 13 of 14 regions. Prague will elect its regional representatives in 2002. The Senate elections have not drawn much voter interest. The Czech media have turned their attention mostly to two election districts, Benesov and Chrudim. In Benesov, Senate Chairwoman Libuse Benesova (Civic Democratic Party, ODS) is up for re-election. She faces Helena Roegnerova, former director of the University Hospital in Motol, an independent candidate on the ballot of the Four-Party Coalition (Freedom Union Freedom, Christian Democrats, Civic Democratic Alliance and Democratic Union). The other candidates are far behind the duo. If one candidate does not receive a majority in the first round, the two top finishers face each other in a runoff election November 19. A similar situation will probably occur in the Chrudim region, where, according to polls organized by SCC and STEM November 1-2, the best chance for victory (with 38 per cent of the polls) lies with Four-Party Coalition candidate and Senate Vice Chairman Petr Pithart. Second place (with 25 per cent of the polls) belongs to Petr Stepanek, the ODS candidate. Miroslav Slouf, the controversial leader of Prime Minister Milos Zeman's advisers, is not doing well, with polls gauging his support at about 8 per cent, which leaves him 1 per cent ahead of Milan Bicik, candidate of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM). Josef Zeleniec, foreign minister from 1992-97, is trying a comeback with the Four-Party Coalition in Prague's Fourth District. Higher voter turnout is expected in the regional elections, finally being held for the first time. Voters can choose from 41 parties and coalitions. According to the latest polls, ODS stands the best chance to succeed in the elections, with 29 per cent of voter preferences, followed by the Four-Party Coalition. For further election coverage see http://www.volby.cz Tereza Polachova/Sofia Karakeva Czech-Austrian Borders Blocked, Meeting in Vienna is endangered Opponents of the Temelin nuclear power plant started blockades at Czech-Austrian border crossings November 1 in reaction to the results of the October 31 meeting of Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel in Zidlochovice Castle (see Carolina 392). Schuessel did not persuade Zeman to delay the start-up of Temelin. A delay should have allowed for a complex assessment of Temelin's impact on the environment. According to Zeman, the blockades seriously endanger the Vienna meeting agreed to in Zidlochovice. Schuessel appealed to blockade organizers not to threaten the dialogue with Prague. Austrian anti-nuclear activists, however, blocked all the Southern Bohemian border crossings November 3. The same day parties represented in the Upper-Austrian Parliament and representatives of anti-nuclear groups met in Linz. District Executive Josef Puehringer said the protests will not abate. On November 4 the blockades spread to Moravian border crossings and from noon November 5 until late the next day all 15 border crossings were blocked. Three main crossings remained blocked until the evening of November 9. On November 10 a meeting of protesters, European Commission member Franz Fischler and Austrian members of the European Parliament is to take place at the Wullowitz - Dolni Dvoriste crossing. Pavla Krizkova/Pavla Krizkova Havel Turns to Constitutional Court President Vaclav Havel is convinced that certain paragraphs of the Election Act and Political Parties Act are at odds with the constitutionally guaranteed free competition of political parties and has asked for the acts' annulment. Havel criticizes in particular the 100-per-cent increase of the state contribution for each parliamentary mandate to 1 million crowns per seat per year. The president also doubts the provision that would make it far more difficult for smaller parties to get state contributions - 30 crowns would be received for a vote instead of the current 90 crowns. Representatives of parliamentary parties, mainly the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and the ruling Social Democrats (CSSD), criticized Havel's statements. Both parties say Havel is trying to influence the election campaign and to minimize the chances for post-election stability. On the contrary, Freedom Union Vice Chairman Vladimir Mlynar has voiced his agreement with Havel. Radim Hladik/Sofia Karakeva NEWS IN BRIEF * Despite an intensive police search, hit man Jiri Kajinek, who escaped last week from Mirov Prison (see Carolina 392), is still at large. In the meantime the warden of Mirov Prison, Milan Kohoutek, was dismissed, while General Director of the Czech prison system Kamila Meclova survived in her position. * The Children of the Earth organization declared November 3 a Car-Free Day. This day, designed to relieve the negative impact of car traffic for one day, took place for the eighth year. In the Czech Republic, 69 citizens' groups joined the protest in 45 towns. Seventeen city halls supported the protest, nine cities organized free public transport. However, politicians - with exceptions like Senator Jan Ruml (Freedom Union) and Christian Democrat deputy Pavel Tollner - ignored the protest. The City of Prague took a negative attitude toward the day, as the City Hall rejected a request to show an exhibit on Old Town Square on the possibilities of public transportation. Jakub Vavruska and Radim Hladik/Milan Smid FROM SLOVAKIA Slovak-Czech Relations Continue to Improve Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Slovak Premier Mikulas Dzurinda November 2 signed in Bratislava an agreement on cooperation in improving the quality of border crossings and bilateral exchanges in education and culture. Eva Hejzlarova/Zdenek Sloboda Prince Charles Makes First Visit to Slovakia Prince Charles arrived in Slovakia November 1 after his visit to the Czech Republic (see Carolina 392). He launched his visit with a trip to the early Gothic church in Zolna near Zvolen in Central Slovakia. He visited the Badinsky Rain Forest nature reservation and in Banska Bystrica was present at the opening of the British firm SCAMP's offices there. In Bratislava Prince Charles met with Premier Mikulas Dzurinda and National Assembly Chairman Jozef Migas. He ended his two-day visit with a tour of Bratislava, guided by Mayor Jozef Moravcik. Jana Niklova/Zdenek Sloboda ECONOMY IN BRIEF * The deficit has fallen by one-third in October. It was 17.3 billion crowns in September, while in October it decreased to 11.3 billion crowns. That amount is still 4 billion crowns more than in October 1999. The estimate for the entire 2000 deficit is 43 billion crowns, or 8 billion crowns more than 1999. Martina Oplatkova/Stepan Vorlicek * The government approved the proposal of Trade Minister Miroslav on the privatization of the state-owned Transgas gas importer and distributor November 1. The company, which has a monopoly on natural-gas imports to the Czech Republic, will be sold together with the country's eight regional distributors. The state will offer up to 97 per cent of the shares of Transgas, which has a market capitalization of 60 billion crowns. An inter-ministry commission will receive and evaluate investors' offers, and next August 31 will present them to the government, which will select the winner of the tender. Pavla Reznickova/Stepan Vorlicek * Creditors of the metallurgical and engineering company Vitkovice voted on the future of the behemoth at the Regional Commercial Court November 1. The company has debts of almost 12 billion crowns. The creditors, who might have saved 8,000 jobs with their vote, were offered 30 per cent of the company's receivables. Should Vitkovice be unable to pay off the creditors, the debts will be covered by the state-owned Consolidation Bank, the largest creditor of Vitkovice. Katerina Kunovska/Stepan Vorlicek Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid November 10) -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 EUR = 34.645 country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 21.252 Great Britain 1 GBP 57.347 Denmark 1 DKK 4.647 Japan 100 JPY 37.801 Canada 1 CAD 26.291 IMF 1 XDR 52.131 Hungary 100 HUF 13.118 Norway 1 NOK 4.362 New Zealand 1 NZD 16.082 Poland 1 PLN 8.842 Greece 100 GRD 10.186 Slovakia 100 SKK 81.107 Slovenia 100 SIT 16.414 Sweden 1 SEK 4.047 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.800 USA 1 USD 40.561 Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 17.714 Belgium 100 BEF 85.883 Finland 1 FIM 5.827 France 1 FRF 5.282 Ireland 1 IEP 43.990 Italy 1000 ITL 17.893 Luxemburg 100 LUF 85.883 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.721 Portugal 100 PTE 17.281 Austria 1 ATS 2.518 Spain 100 ESP 20.822 CULTURE Spiritual Kvintet Celebrates 40th Anniversary in Municipal House The Czech folk band Spiritual kvintet thanked their audience for its constant support during their November 4 performance in the Smetana Hall of Prague's Municipal House (Obecni d…m). The band performed in its traditional line-up with the exception of Oldrich Ortinsky, who was ill, being replaced by Jiri Cerha. According to the leader of the band, Zdenek Tichota, the fans of the group are becoming younger and still appreciate the simple tones of spiritual music. During the first years of their existence, these pioneers of Czech folk music were inspired by black spirituals, Renaissance ballads and ballads from the 19th-century National Revival (Narodni obrozeni). Among the well-wishers were friends of the band, Jiri Pavlica with his group Hradisœan, which has worked with the Spiritual kvintet from time to time, and Jan Nedved. During the nostalgic evening there were recollections of the times Spiritual kvintet worked with Pete Seeger and their performances for presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton and Vaclav Havel. Tichota also recalled how the band played for Vasil Bil'ak, one of the most despised figures of the Communist era. Although the future of the Spiritual kvintet is not known, the band still performs and is preparing a new CD. Marketa Bartosova/Veronika Hankusova Fourth International Documentary Film Festival in Jihlava The fourth-annual International Documentary Film Festival, which took place in Jihlava October 25-28, arose without state support only thanks to the interest of the young people of Jihlava. Karel Vachek won the competition with his Bohemia Docta, or the Labyrinth of the World and the Pleasure House of the Heart (Bohemia docta aneb Labyrint sveta a Lusthauz srdce). Sixty-one films, 14 of them Czech, were shown at the festival. Besides local talent Vachek, well known for his documentaries in recent years, there were three internationally known filmmakers featured at the festival; Alexandr Sokurov, Raymond Depardon and Richard Leacock (the last two attended the festival). Katerina Kunovska/Adam Fendrych CULTURE IN BRIEF * The fifth Prague Theater Festival of the German Language began November 4 and will be taking place in several Prague theaters until November 16. Troupes such as the Vienna Burgtheater and from Basel, Karlsruhe and the Hamburger Schauspielhaus. The Habima Israeli National Theater from Tel Aviv will present Bertold Brecht's play The Caucasian Chalk Ring in the troupe's first performance in the Czech Republic. The highlight of the festival could be the Deutches Schauspielhaus' 12-hour medley of Shakespeare's plays entitled Draw Blood! Zuzana Boleslavova/Adam Fendrych * Jan Drda's Games with the Devil (Hratky s certem) is the first play directed by Jiri Menzel as Vinohrady Theater's (Divadlo na Vinohradech) art director. The new version of the well known fairytale premiered November 3. Vaclav Vydra, Barbora Munzarova and Svatopluk Skopal play the main roles. Menzel said his choice of the play had been made in an effort to bring children to the theater and to lighten his repertoire after a series of heavy dramas. Martina Oplatkova/Adam Fendrych SPORTS Sparta Finishes in Champions League with Loss Sparta Praha lost its last game in soccer's UEFA Champions League 0-1 to Lazio Rome at home November 7. It finished in fourth and last place in its group, which means it will not advance to the Champions League second phase, nor to the UEFA Cup, where the third-place team (Shakhtar Donetsk in Sparta's group) goes. Even the absence of some key Lazio players did not help Sparta, which was better only at the beginning of the game. Three minutes before the break Gottardi passed to Inzaghi, whose shot was deflected by goalkeeper Blazek to Ravanelli's feet, who scored in the empty net. Sparta had its best chance after the break, in the 57th minute, when Jarosik found Siegl in the penalty box, but the Sparta forward did not convert. On the contrary, Blazek made a brilliant save against Ravanelli in the 69th minute. Renata Vlasakova/Mirek Langer Soccer League: Coach Cipro Sacked after Slavia Loss A surprising 2-3 loss by Slavia Praha on Ceske Budejovice's field was the final nail in coach Frantisek Cipro's coffin. Cipro led Slavia in 1996 when it won the Czech league for the first time in 49 years and advanced to the semifinals of the UEFA Cup. Karel Jarolim will be Slavia's coach till the season's winter break. Slavia's defense in Ceske Budejovice floundered and the team was down 0-2 after 15 minutes (goals by Janda and Vacha). Lukas Dosek and Janda's second goal left the score 3-1 at halftime. After the break Slavia put on enormous pressure, but Ceske Budejovice only allowed Svancara to close the final score to 2-3. Sparta Praha defeated Blsany, carefully defending throughout the game, 1-0 after Tomas Rosicky finished on a combination with Siegl and Mynar in the 57th minute, although he was probably offside. Blsany coach Miroslav Beranek said after the game: "I'd like to congratulate Sparta on the win, but I can't. It won on an irregular goal." Teplice recorded its fifth win in a row, defeating Ostrava 4-0, and moved into second place. Two teams from the bottom of the standings met as Brno defeated Plzen 1-0 and pushed Plzen into last place. Results of the 13th round: Sparta Praha - Blsany 1-0, Ceske Budejovice - Slavia Slavia 3-2, Zizkov - Stare Mesto 3-1, Pribram - Bohemians Praha 3-0, Jablonec - Drnovice 0-0, Teplice - Ostrava 4-0, Olomouc - Liberec 1-1, Brno - Plzen 1-0. Standings: 1. Sparta Praha 30 points, 2. Teplice 24, 3. Liberec 24, 4. Pribram 21, 5. Olomouc 19, 6. Stare Mesto 19, 7. Slavia Praha 18, 8. Bohemians Praha 16, 9. Zizkov 15, 10. Blsany 13, 11. Drnovice 12, 12. Jablonec 12, 13. Ceske Budejovice 11, 14. Ostrava 11, 15. Brno 8, 16. Plzen 8. The standings are distorted as some teams still have to play the postponed games from the Olympic period. Renata Vlasakova and Petr Adam/Mirek Langer Hockey Extraleague: Sparta Breaks Losing Streak Reigning champion Sparta Praha defeated Havirov 3-0 in the 21st round of the hockey extraleague to win its first game after five defeats in a row. The win by Ceske Budejovice over Karlovy Vary was the biggest surprise of the 20th round. Karlovy Vary lost after five games without a defeat, while Ceske Budejovice got its third point after 15 rounds of play. The extraleague will now take a break because of the Czech national team's participation in the Karjala tournament of the Euro Hockey Tour. Results of the 20th round: Zlin - Vitkovice 4:3, Slavia Praha - Litvinov 1:2, Plzen - Kladno 4:2, Havirov - Vsetin 2:4, Ceske Budejovice - Karlovy Vary 5:1, Znojmo - Sparta Praha 3:0, Trinec - Pardubice 5:3. Results of the 21st round: Vitkovice - Slavia Praha 3:0, Litvinov, Znojmo 3:3, Kladno - Zlin 6:5, Vsetin - Ceske Budejovice 3:2, Sparta Praha - Havirov 3:0, Pardubice - Plzen 2:1, Karlovy Vary - Trinec 4:0. Standings: 1. Pardubice 41 points, 2. Vsetin 39, 3. Litvinov 37, 4. Vitkovice 35, 5. Plzen 35, 6. Trinec 34, 7. Sparta Praha 33, 8. Zlin 32, 9. Znojmo 26, 10. Karlovy Vary 26, 11. Slavia Praha 25, 12. Havirov 23, 13. Ceske Budejovice 20, 14. Kladno 19. Jana Niklova/Mirek Langer After deadline: Soccer UEFA Cup: Slavia Praha - OFI Crete 4-1, Slavia advances 6-3 on aggregate score. Slovan Liberec - Liverpool FC 2-3, Liverpool advances 2-4 on aggregate. Hockey - Karjala Tournament: Czech Republic - Sweden 1-4. SPORTS IN BRIEF * The health of legendary Czech distance runner Emil Zatopek abruptly worsened November 7. Zatopek, 78, suffered a possible stroke and was taken to the Central Military Hospital in Prague-Stresovice. He has been in hospital twice recently and doctors classify his present state as critical. Zatopek won the 1948 Olympic gold in the 10,000m, while four years later in Helsinki he added three gold medals in the 5,000m, the 10,000m and the marathon. * Ludmila Formanova, two-time 800m world champion, underwent surgery on an ankle ligament November 8. Orthopedic surgeon Vaclav Smetana said recuperation could take up to one year. According to the daily Ceske slovo, Formanova does not expect to wait that long for her comeback. Because of the injury Formanova withdrew after a heat in the Sydney Olympics. * Czech hockey goalie Dominik Hasek recorded his 200th win for the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo defeated Montreal 5-4 and Hasek made 31 saves. Martina Parizkova and Zuzana Boleslavova/Mirek Langer WEATHER Nature offered us a wide variety of faces this week. While snow fell at Lysa Hora in the Beskydy Mountains, wild poppies started to blossom again in some places in the Moravian lowlands. A mild earthquake (3.7 on the Richter scale) was registered in the Cheb region. The past month was the warmest October in the last 25 years, with a daily average temperature of 10.9 degrees Celsius/52 degrees Fahrenheit. Meteorologists say November will be mild, as well. Tereza Polachova 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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