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 412, Friday, March 30, 2001. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (March 21 - March 28) Return of the Pink Tank? Prime Minister Milos Zeman March 21 severely criticized the plan of the Smichov Town Hall (Prague's 5th district) and sculptor David Cerny to return the torso of the famous pink tank to Kinsky Square in front of the Town Hall. Soviet tank no. 23 was placed in Kinsky Square after World War II in memory of the Soviet soldiers who died while liberating part of the former Czechoslovakia. In 1991 Cerny painted the tank pink, an act that became a symbol of the changes in the former communist Europe. The tank was moved to the Military Museum in Prague Castle. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary the tank turning pink, Cerny wanted to install the tank on the square again, but with the front part sunk into the ground. Zeman said the project is an old joke that is no longer funny, and is not, unlike 10 years ago, a political happening provoking discussion of the meaning of May 1945 and August 1968. Zeman said the project is an arrogant, thoughtless expression of the mentality of the graffiti generation, which lacks any empathy for historical context." The first protest against the project came from the Russian Embassy March 15. Embassy authorities said the project devalues the Soviet soldiers killed during the liberation of Czechoslovakia. The day after Zeman's criticism, Prague 5 officials changed their verdict and rejected the project. The final decision, however, rests with Prague City Hall, which owns the land. Zuzana Boleslavova/Sofia Karakeva Karel Srba Takes Responsibility for Czech House Hotel Contract Foreign Ministry General Secretary Karel Srba resigned because of the dubious rental contract with the Czech House Hotel company in Moscow (see Carolina 411). Just before the ministry's special press conference March 27, Srba took responsibility for errors in the contract. According to the Czech daily Pravo, Srba wrote Foreign Minister Jan Kavan in his resignation letter, "Considering my position I am responsible for these mistakes, even though these mistakes were in no way deliberate." Kavan called Srba's resignation an exemplary step, which raised the bar unusually high for state officials. Kavan says he is not considering resigning. Radim Hladik/Sofia Karakeva NEWS IN BRIEF * Jaroslav Kopriva March 24 became first vice-chairman of the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL). He succeeded Cyril Svoboda, who was in January voted election leader of the Four-Party Coalition, of which the Christian Democrats are a member. Kopriva, the official KDU-CSL candidate for this post, was passed over in the election. * Provisional Czech Television General Director Jiri Balvin appointed Zbynek Honys news director at the public-service broadcaster March 22. Honys has a radio background, he began working at Czechoslovak Radio in 1985. In 1990 he participated in the transformation of the station and was cofounder of the station affiliate Radiojournal. Honys worked in the news departments of private television broadcasters TV Premiera and TV Nova. Honys will fill a position which has been for practical purposes empty since December, when Jiri Vondracek stepped down after the appointment of Jiri Hodac as Czech Television general director December 20. * The Czech Academy of Sciences has a new leader as of March 27. For the first time a woman was chosen - Helena Illnerova, biologist and current Academy vice chairwoman. Illnerova said she does not intend to change the Academy's course but plans to bring in new people and foreign researchers. She also said she will try to improve cooperation between the Academy and universities. Pavla Reznickova, Martina Oplatkova/Sofia Karakeva FROM SLOVAKIA Kavan in Bratislava Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan March 22 opened the new Czech embassy building in Bratislava. During his official visit to Slovakia, Kavan met Slovak Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan and President Rudolf Schuster. They talked about the border procedures between the countries should the Czech Republic enter the EU before Slovakia. Schuster said he is convinced that will not happen: "We should now begin creating an atmosphere in the European Parliament that it is very important for us to enter the EU together with the Czech Republic," said Schuster according to the daily SME. Kavan said he is convinced Slovakia will be among the first countries to be invited to join NATO. He also promised the support of the Czech Republic at the conference in Bratislava where prime ministers of the countries aspiring to join NATO will meet. Katerina Kunovska/Stepan Vorlicek FROM SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF * Beginning February 25, Slovakia and Denmark have visa-free travel. Bratislava welcomed the step and said it hopes Belgium will also decide likewise. Slovakia was added to the list of countries, the citizens of which should not need a visa when traveling to the EU, effective April 10. Veronika Pavlu/Stepan Vorlicek ECONOMY Czech Recession over, 2000 GDP up 3.1 Per Cent The Czech Republic's gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 3.1 per cent in 2000. This unexpected result, which is close to the growth rates of EU countries, was announced March 22. Prime Minister Milos Zeman gave credit for the figure to his Social Democrat (CSSD) government, while opposition Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Chairman Vaclav Klaus expressed satisfaction but said he sees no healthy basis for the growth. Economists estimated growth of 2.7 per cent, Finance Minister Pavel Mertlik expected 3 per cent. The reality is even brighter; economists and politicians consider the figure as proof the economic recession has ended. Yet the GDP growth has its problems. Analysts point out the unfavorable structure of the growth, which is propelled by foreign investments but also by surprisingly large stores of goods. On the other hand, household spending was not high enough to support the growth. Also, the rising trade-balance deficit had a negative influence. Martin Roubal/Stepan Vorlicek World Bank Recommends Czech Government Clamp down on Public Spending World Bank Director for Eastern Europe Bernard Funck announced March 23 the results of a yearlong analysis: to get the Czech state debt under control the government must make significant cuts in spending. The bank gave suggestions how to reduce the various budget deficits. These suggestions, however, are not acceptable to the Social Democrat government. Labor Minister Vladimir Spidla said he does not agree with the pension reform recommended by the bank. Health Minister Bohumil Fiser said he opposes the bank proposal to increase the patient participation in the costs of healthcare. The bank advised the Education Ministry to increase the number of university students by charging tuition and by expanding private education. This recommendation was also rejected by the Education Minister Eduard Zeman. Other bank recommendations were full deregulation of rents and an end to subsidies for building new state flats. To increase income from rail transport the bank advised increasing ticket prices. The bank suggested the cabinet present its budget proposal together with budget estimates for the next three years, which would make the government maintain a limit on expenditures. Funck said the analysis is a merely the bank's opinion, a call for discussion, and he said the principles included are simply common practice worldwide. Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies and the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Vaclav Klaus said "the significance of such analyses is approximately zero." Pavla Krizkova/Pavla Krizkova Israeli Firm to Build 82km of Freeway in Northern Moravia The government March 21 decided that the Israeli firm Housing & Construction would be the first private company to build freeways in the Czech Republic. A new freeway from Lipnik to Ostrava is to be finished in five years and should cost about 40 billion crowns. A state project would be more expensive and take longer; no tolls will be required. The state plans to pay for construction in yearly installments of 2 to 2.5 billion crowns over 25 years, during which the Israeli company will provide the maintenance. The decision was marked by controversy, as the government chose the firm without holding a public tender. Radim Hladik/Stepan Vorlicek Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid March 30) -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 EUR = 34.470 country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 19 188 Great Britain 1 GBP 55.908 Denmark 1 DKK 4.620 Japan 100 JPY 31.482 Canada 1 CAD 24.770 IMF 1 XDR 49.247 Hungary 100 HUF 12.925 Norway 1 NOK 4.267 New Zealand 1 NZD 15.985 Poland 1 PLN 9.503 Slovakia 100 SKK 79.023 Slovenia 100 SIT 15.946 Sweden 1 SEK 3.736 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.538 USA 1 USD 38.837 Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 17.624 Belgium 100 BEF 85.449 Finland 1 FIM 5.797 France 1 FRF 5.255 Ireland 1 IEP 43.768 Italy 1000 ITL 17.802 Luxemburg 100 LUF 85.449 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.642 Portugal 100 PTE 17.194 Austria 1 ATS 2.505 Greece 100 GRD 10.116 Spain 100 ESP 20.717 CULTURE Thalia Awards Presented The 2000 Thalia Awards for outstanding stage performances were presented in Prague's National Theater March 24. Performers received the award - a statuette with a comedy mask - in four categories. The revised rules of the awards, which are presented by the Actors' Association, allowed for the first time this year the nomination of foreigners who act in a play staged and performed in the Czech Republic. The winners in the opera category were Klaudia Dernerova, who starred in Shostakovich's Lady MacBeth of Mzensk (National Theater, Prague), and Valentin Prolat of Belarus for his role in Verdi's Don Carlos (National Theater, Brno). The winners in the category for operetta, musical or other musical-dramatic genre were pop singer Lucie Bila for her part in the musical Joan of Arc (Ta Fantastika Theater, Prague) and Tomas Cerny, who performed in the operetta The Land of Smiles (Karlin Music Theater, Prague). Katerina Benesova-Rejmanova and Jiri Pokorny won in the ballet, pantomime and other dance-dramatic genre category. Benesova-Rejmanova won for her role as an atomic bomb in the ballet Hiroshima (Ballet Prague) and Pokorny for his performance as Norman Bates in an adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The role of Queen Elizabeth in Schiller's Mary Stuart (National Theater, Prague) brought the award to Tatjana Medvecka in the drama category. Ivan Trojan received the award in the same category for his performance in an adaptation of I. A. Goncharov's Oblomov. The council of the Actor's Association also presented five special awards. Radek Holub received the award for drama actors under 32. Ballet dancer Marta Drottnerova, opera singer Ivana Mixova, director Otomar Krejca and actress Stella Zazvorkova were given awards for their lifetime achievements. Marketa Bartosova/Simon Dominik No Oscar for Jan Hrebejk Director Jan Hrebejk's film Divided We Fall (Musime si pomahat) lost to Ang Lee's favored Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the Best Foreign-Language Film category at the Academy Awards ceremony March 25. Hrebejk told the Czech daily Pravo: "The main thing is that people back home aren't disappointed. It's not a win, but it's also not a loss." Radim Hladik/Simon Dominik If Not Now, When? - Motto of the Prague Writers' Festival The 11th Prague Writers' Festival, which will take place April 1-6, is dedicated to Italian humanist Primo Levi, whose lifelong theme was the manipulation of moral values. This year's festival will also dedicate days to Israel, Switzerland and Ireland. The biggest attraction of the festival could be Bombay-born English writer Salman Rushdie, sentenced to death by Ayatollah Chomeini in 1989 for Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. Despite the fact that Iran cancelled the fatwa in 1998, Rushdie will be under constant guard of Interior Ministry forces. Other guests of the festival include Gore Vidal, Peter Stephan Jungk, Robert Menasse, Ida Fink, Natan Zach and Vassilis Vassilikos. Arthur Miller and Zeruya Shalev cancelled their visits because of illness. The festival will be broadcast on a large screen in the Czech Cultural Centre in London. Katerina Kunovska/Simon Dominik SPORTS National Soccer Team Wins, Draws in World Cup Qualifiers The Czech national soccer team in Belfast moved closer to the 2002 World Cup finals. The 1-0 win over Northern Ireland was its third success in the third qualification group, with the only misstep so far the unexpected scoreless tie against Malta. The win meant the Czech Republic leads the group, ahead of Denmark, Bulgaria, Northern Ireland, Iceland and Malta. Captain Pavel Nedved's goal led to the win - in the 11th minute he put the ball in the left corner of the goal. The win was in danger at the end of the game, but defender Roman Tyce stopped the ball from going into the empty net after a shot hit the bar. Coach Jozef Chovanec praised the Czech players' effort and criticized Irish aggression. "Nobody flinched from contact, that pleased me," said Chovanec. Thanks to good defense, the team has not allowed a goal, the only European team in its group with that distinction. Marketa Bartosova/Mirek Langer After deadline: Czech Republic - Denmark 0-0. Hockey Extraleague Playoffs: Vitkovice Eliminates Pardubice The teams for the finals will be the winners of the Sparta Praha-Vitkovice and Vsetin-Slavia Praha series. In the first games, Vsetin defeated Slavia 4-0 and Sparta beat Vitkovice 3-2. Vsetin and Sparta were able to advance in six games in their respective first-round, best-of-seven series. Vsetin defeated Zlin 3-2 in the last game thanks to a goal in the fourth minute of overtime, while Sparta defeated Litvinov 3-0 in the decisive game. Znojmo managed to break Slavia goalie Roman Malek's shutout run after 192 minutes. Znojmo won the sixth game 3-2, but Slavia defeated its opponent in the seventh game 3-1 and advanced to the semifinals for the first time ever. Vitkovice's overtime 2-1 win over Pardubice was a key moment for Vitkovice, which tied the series. Pardubice then lost on its own ice 3-4 to lose the series, despite finishing third in the league standings after the regular season. The game ended with conflict between Pardubice players and the referees (see SPORTS IN BRIEF). The qualification-round series between Karlovy Vary (the extraleague's last-place team) and first-league champ Chomutov began with Karlovy Vary winning both home games and leading the best-of-seven series 2-0. Marie Valaskova/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * Angry hockey referees called a strike for March 25, but they called it off March 26. After the seventh game of the Pardubice-Vitkovice playoff quarterfinals, Ales Pisa of Pardubice insulted the assistant referee and Pardubice captain Ota Janecky then made obscene comments about the referees in a television interview. The strike was called off after the Association of Professional Clubs Director Stanislav Sulc promised players would not comment on the referees' performances on the day of the match. * Figure-skating pair Katerina Berankova and Otto Dlabola ensured themselves of a spot in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games. They finished 12th in the World Championships in Vancouver. Ice-dancing pair Katerina Kovalova and David Szurman finished 23rd, Lenka Seniglova finished 17th in the qualification group and missed qualifying in the short program by two places. * Kenya's Anthony Korir won the third Prague Half-Marathon March 24, which took place in Prague's historic downtown. The favorite, Korir's teammate Elijah Lagat, finished fourth, two seconds ahead of Czech runner Pavel Faschingbauer. Florence Barsosi of Kenya won the women's race, Jana Klimesova was the best Czech finisher, in third. Martina Oplatkova, Pavla Reznickova, Radim Hladik/Mirek Langer WEATHER The rains of the past week abated Saturday to give the Czech Republic arguably its finest day of 2001. The price, however, was high - Praguers awoke Monday morning to snowfall, and temperatures have been below zero in the morning and evening. Daytime highs by midweek reached 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees Fahrenheit, and warmer temperatures are supposedly on the way. Daylight savings time also began over the weekend. 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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