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 ISSN 121-5040 tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 22112219 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 399, Friday, December 22, 2000 FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (DECEMBER 13 - DECEMBER 20) Large Protests against Czech TV Council and New General Director Strong protests were sparked by the recall of Dusan Chmelicek, general director of the state-run Czech Television (CT, see Carolina 398). Dozens of CT employees and many Czech artists joined the protests. They demanded the search for a new general director be stopped and that the Czech Television Council, which recalled Chmelicek and will choose his successor, resign. The protesters demanded a change in the election of council members, who are chosen exclusively by politicians in the Chamber of Deputies proportionally to the strength of various parties. The petition Czech Television - A Public Matter was supported by actor Jiri Bartoska, writer Ludvik Vaculik, director Fero Fenic and actor-writer Jan Kraus. The civic groups Thank You, Now Leave!, Impulse 99 and the Community of Writers joined the initiative. About 300 people protested in front of CT headquarters in Prague December 19. Discussions between demonstrators and the council were fruitless. Six candidates made it to final round of the search for a new general director. Prime Minister Milos Zeman and his Social Democrats (CSSD) met to discuss their choice for general director, party Vice Chairman Vladimir Spidla said he found such political influence normal. Martina Oplatkova/Sofia Karakeva After deadline: The council December 20 chose Jiri Hodac as the station's new general director. CT employees have protested the selection, the speed of the decision and the manner of the selection. They formed a crisis staff and released a statement expressing their fear that the station will lose its independence. Hodac worked in radio for the BBC and was CT News Director for a few months this year. He was known for his firing of debate-program host Roman Prorok after a debate between Zeman and Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav Klaus. The crisis staff aired their statement on the station's evening news three times December 20. Demonstrations took place December 21 in Prague, Brno and Ostrava as tension continued to mount. Pithart Again Senate Chairman Current Senate Vice Chairman Petr Pithart (Christian Democrat, KDU-CSL) became new Senate chairman, December 19, during the chamber's first session since the November elections. Pithart received 50 out of 79 votes in the first round. Pithart, 59, was elected the Senate's first chairman when the Senate began functioning four years ago. In 1998 he lost the post to Libuse Benesova of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) as part of the Opposition Contract between ODS and the ruling Social Democrats. Those two parties, however, lost their majority in the Senate in the November elections, enabling Pithart's re-election. Pithart, a historian and persecuted dissident before 1989, was prime minister of the Czech districts of Czechoslovakia from 1990-92. Tereza Polachova/Sofia Karakeva Kopriva, Kunhl and Zantovksy Candidates for Four-Party Leader The parties of the Four-Party Coaltition have elected during the past few days their candidates for coalition leader. That individual should lead the coalition in the 2002 general elections, which the coalition could win, if the elections results reflect the results of recent voter-preference polls. The Freedom Union (US) December 15 elected as its candidate party Chairman Karel Kunhl. The Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) elected the same day Senator Michael Zantovksy its candidate for the post. The Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) nominated Jaroslav Kopriva (see Carolina 398) December 8. The Democratic Union (DEU) will not propose a candidate; at the December 16 party congress, Chairman Ratibor Majzlik was re-elected to his post. The coalition leader should be chosen in January. Jakub Vavruska/Sofia Karakeva NEWS IN BRIEF * The Temelin (JETE) nuclear reactor's control system turned off the reactor December 16 after pumps ceased functioning in the non-nuclear part of the reactor. The event took place shortly after the State Office for Nuclear Safety allowed the power plant to increase the level of performance capacity from 12 per cent to 20 per cent. Temelin supporters called the event typical for the start-up of a new reactor, while opponents said the event proves Temelin is unsafe. * Foreign Minister Jan Kavan December 15 underwent a quadruple bypass at the General University Hospital in Prague. The minister said he hopes to return home eight days after the operation and should be able to go on his scheduled trip to South Africa at the end of January. * Foreign ministers of NATO member countries decided December 16 in Brussels that the alliance's 2002 summit will be held in Prague. Czech politicians across the spectrum and President Vaclav Havel expressed satisfaction with the decision. The Communists (KSCM) vented displeasure and anarchist organizations declared plans to demonstrate during the summit. Martin Roubal, Martina Parizkova, Radim Hladik/Michael Bluhm SLOVAKIA Legislature Leaves Interior Minister in Office The National Assembly left Interior Minister Ladislav Pittner in office with their December 19 vote. Members of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) proposed his recall, saying Pittner is not capable of leading the ministry. Pittner's recall was proposed by the opposition immediately after his statement that he would propose a ban on the HZDS if its leaders are proved to have taken part in past criminal activities by the Slovak Information Service. The minister has been criticized for his inability to prosecute politically motivated crimes from the era when HZDS and Premier Vladimir Meciar ruled the country. Pittner is also criticized for having done little to reform state bureaucracy under the conditions set by the EU for Slovakia's membership. Veronika Pavlu/Veronika Hankusova Last StB Chief Alojz Lorenc May Not Be Jailed A Military court in Bratislava decided at a private hearing last week that the statute of limitations has run out on former secret police chief Alojz Lorenc's four-year prison sentence for abuse of public office. The speaker of the Justice Ministry would not confirm the story. Lorenc, head of the State Security (Statni bezpecnost, StB), was judged to have illegally incarcerated about 300 people between autumn 1988 and November 1989. The military prosecutor said he wants to file a complaint with the Supreme Court. Eva Hejzlarova/Veronika Hankusova FROM SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF * Justice Minister Jan Carnogursky's BMW crashed December 15 in Stare Hory. Two people died, four more suffered severe injuries. The next day Carnogursky underwent an operation of the sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae in the Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica. The head of the surgical team Jozef Lohnert said Carnogursky is conscious, but did not give further details. Eva Hejzlarova/Veronika Hankusova ECONOMY Commerce Bank to Get 20-Million-Crown Injection The government decided December 19 to provide 20 billion crowns to Commerce Bank (Komercni banka, KB) to cover the rest of the bank's bad loans in order to speed the privatization of the last state-owned bank. The total amount of state assistance for the bank thus reached 77 billion crowns. Bank General Director Radovan Vavra said he considers the approved guarantees sufficient. This injection should help lure investors and is supposedly definitely the last one from the state. Eva Hejzlarova/Stepan Vorlicek Czech Economy Grows Faster The newest data provided by the Czech Statistics Office December 12 confirm prior optimistic prognoses. The country's gross domestic product increased by 2.2 per cent in the third quarter compared to the same period of 1999. The Czech economy is growing thanks to a massive influx of foreign investments and higher household and state spending. Many economists warn, however, that growth based on these factors cannot last. The Czech economy has for most of the year managed to maintain an upward trend, now helped by Christmas shopping. One crucial factor for the GDP increase was revival of industry, which is responsible for as much as 75 per cent of the growth. The statistics office predicts the economic growth is likely to continue modestly until the end of the year, with an estimated growth of 2.7 per cent for the year. Optimistic forecasts predict a 3-per-cent increase. Less optimistic economists say the GDP growth was largely influenced by the fact that companies produced for stock. "GDP growth based on the growth of reserves definitely does not indicate a healthy basis. Without the reserves, the result of the GDP would be lousy," said Commerce Bank (Komercni banka, KB) analyst Jan Vejmelek. Statisticians say stores in industrial companies grew the most, an indication of artificial growth. The Czech economy has been, and probably will be, affected negatively by increasing imports. Martin Roubal/Stepan Vorlicek Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid December 21) ---------------------------------------------------------- 1 EUR = 34.695 country currency CZK ---------------------------------------- Australia 1 AUD 21.106 Great Britain 1 GBP 56.703 Denmark 1 DKK 4.651 Japan 100 JPY 34.227 Canada 1 CAD 25.365 IMF 1 XDR 49.900 Hungary 100 HUF 13.132 Norway 1 NOK 4.267 New Zealand 1 NZD 16.762 Poland 1 PLN 9.048 Greece 100 GRD 10.183 Slovakia 100 SKK 80.131 Slovenia 100 SIT 16.300 Sweden 1 SEK 3.988 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.914 USA 1 USD 38.644 Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ---------------------------------------- Belgium 100 BEF 86.007 Finland 1 FIM 5.835 France 1 FRF 5.289 Ireland 1 IEP 44.054 Italy 1000 ITL 17.918 Luxemburg 100 LUF 86.007 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.744 Portugal 100 PTE 17.306 Austria 1 ATS 2.521 Germany 1 DEM 17.739 Spain 100 ESP 20.852 CULTURE IN BRIEF * Prague Spring Director Oleg Podgorny died from a brain aneurysm December 14. He had been director of the country's best-known music festival since being chosen in 1990. His wide experience, acquired partly as the World Federation of International Music Competitions vice president, led to the professional management of the Prague Spring. He instituted radical changes in the organization of the oldest Czech music festival, and as such kept its prestige as one of the world's leading classical music festivals. * About 40 mostly young people gathered December 14 in front of the Exposition Palace (Veletrzni palac) to demonstrate their opposition to National Gallery Director Milan Knizak. Students of the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU) organized the demonstration and accused Knizak of being in a conflict of interest as director of the gallery and a working artist, whose works of questionable quality are purchased by the gallery. The students asked him to resign his function at the National Gallery and at the academy, where he is a top official. Knizak participated in the demonstration with a sign reading Get Rid of Knizak! (Pryc s Knizakem!). * Screenwriter and director Jiri Krecek received the Vladislav Vancura Award for lifelong achievement. The Czech Film and Television Association (FITES) and the Czech Literary Fund gave special praise to his documentary Leaving Exam in November (Maturita v listopadu), which he originally intended to be a feature film. Marketa Bartosova/Adam Fendrych SPORTS Czechs Perform Well in Baltika Cup Czech hockey players recorded their first win in this year's Euro Hockey Tour. In the third tournament of the Tour - the Baltika Cup in Moscow - they defeated Sweden 4-2 December 17. The players broke out of their scoring funk and with the support of goalkeeper Dusan Salficky's great performance earned the victory. Russia, the reigning world champion, was the second opponent of the Czech team. The Czechs were leading throughout almost all the December 18 game - in the 37th minute the score was 4-1. Three minutes before the final whistle Russia's Karpov scored his third goal and tied the game at 4-4. Russia then won the shoot-out, making the final score 5-4. To confirm their improved offense the Czechs scored six goals in the last game against Finland December 20 and after a 6-2 win in the last game the Czechs finished third in the Baltika Cup. The national team played in Moscow without many stars - Reichel, Prochazka, Vykoukal and Mikeska were injured, Dopita and Kral rejected invitations to play. Marie Valaskova/Mirek Langer Czech Swimmers Win Nine Medals in Short-Track European Championships The Czech Republic was fourth (behind Sweden, Italy and Germany) in the Short-Track European Championships in swimming held in Valencia, Spain. During four days of competition December 14-17, the Czechs collected three golds, three silvers and three bronzes - the country's best-ever result. Ilona Hlavackova, 23-year-old bronze medalist from the European Championships in Helsinki, won gold medals in the 100m and 50m backstroke. In the finals, Hlavackova broke the championships record and with her time of 58.82 seconds finished under one minute for the first time. The 50m breaststroke men's final finished in a three-way tie for the first time: Daniel Malek won one of three gold medals with Germany's Warnecke and Italy's Fioravanti. Malek added a silver medal in the 100m breast and a bronze in the 200m breaststroke. Jana Pechanova won two medals, a silver in the 400m freestyle and 800m free. Kvetoslav Svoboda won two bronzes for the 200m freestyle and the 400m free. Katerina Kunovska/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * Pavel Nedved, midfielder for Lazio Rome, won the fourth annual poll of journalists and will receive the Golden Ball as the best Czech soccer player of the year. This year Lazio won the top Italian league and its cup and Nedved was elected the Czech national team captain. Anderlecht forward Jan Koller finished second in the poll, beating Sparta Praha's Tomas Rosicky. The awards ceremony will take place in Pisek January 6. * Czech skier Katerina Neumannova finished second in the World Cup event in Brusson, Italy. After an eighth place in the 10km classic December 16, she advanced to the 1500m sprint final, where only Finland's Manninen was faster. Neumannova is fourth in the World Cup overall standings. * Michaela Vernerova won the bronze medal in the judo World Championships for students in Malaga in the 57kg category. Zuzana Boleslavova/Mirek Langer WEATHER Winter has arrived. And fast - December 13 was the warmest in Prague in the last 225 years (a temperature of 14.3 degrees Celsius/58 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded). One week later there half a meter of snow in the mountains and temperatures in Prague have been below freezing for most of the past three days. Dear Readers, We would like to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, enjoyable winter solstice regardless of faith, Happy New Year and a Happy New Millenium. Carolina's next issue will be released January 12. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with attribution to CAROLINA. Subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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