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 423, Friday, June 15, 2001. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (June 6- June 13) Mad Cow Disease Found in Czech Republic Agriculture Minister Jan Fencl and Director of State Veterinary Administration Josef Holejsovsky announced June 6 that one test sample of beef contains the prion that causes Mad Cow Disease (BSE). A back-up test confirmed the six-year-old cow butchered in Kostelec was infected. The Czech Republic is the first Central or Eastern European country to register a case of BSE. Prague asked for assistance in Tuebingen, Germany; local experts have more experience, but they are expected to find similar results. However, there were cases when cattle proved to be healthy after several tests. Employees of the Dusejov farm in the Jihlava region, the home of the infected cow, and butchers were quite scared by the confirmed existence of BSE. According to media information, no significant decrease in the demand for beef occurred during the weekend. The State Veterinary Administration ordered checks of all cattle older than 30 months. This will cost an additional 300 million crowns that Fencl will need from the government. As much as 730 million crowns had been set aside for BSE testing before, mainly because of foot-and-mouth disease. The EU refuses to give financial aid for testing to candidate countries. Other European countries took strong measures. Poland, Slovakia and Lithuania imposed an embargo on importing all beef products from the Czech Republic June 8. Slovakia later relaxed the measure, allowing the import of milk and dairy products; importing beef, bone meal and all kinds of cattle feed is banned. Pavla Reznickova/Stepan Vorlicek Internet Will not Be in All Schools This Year The Office for the Protection of Economic Competition put on hold the tender for choosing a general contractor for computers for Czech schools. All work on the project is stopped for 60 days. Only one company, AutoCont On Line, related to monopoly phone provider Czech Telecom, met the requirements of the tender. The other five finalists failed to comply because of formal errors. The tender winner should supply schools with computer equipment and internet connection for next five years, receiving 4.5 billion crowns from the state. Due to the delay, the ministry will not be able to draw money from this year's budget, which might cause problems with next year's budget. Neither principals nor opposition politicians were satisfied with the tender, although Education Minister Eduard Zeman supported the project. Main project coordinator Jakub Rainisch is a former employee of AutoCont, which caused some doubts about the legitimacy of the tender. The Education Ministry is nevertheless convinced it acted lawfully, but will obey the decision to delay the tender. Pavla Reznickova/Ondrej Maly NEWS IN BRIEF * Citizens whose assets exceed 10 million crowns would have to file records of their property, according to a government bill. The bill is intended to fight money laundering and tax evasion. The Cabinet passed the proposal June 6. It is certain that conservative deputies will not pass the bill. "Property statements never helped economic growth or to decrease crime. They might be another source for the corruption of state officials," said for the daily Lidove noviny Liberal Institute Director Miroslav Sevcik. * Zoran Djindjic, prime minister of Yugoslavia, arrived in the Czech Republic for an official visit June 10. The following day he said Yugoslavia would abolish visas for Czech citizens this summer. Pavla Reznickova, Dana Zlatohlavkova/Ondrej Maly FOREIGN AFFAIRS Zeman Visits Czech Units in Balkans Prime Minister Milos Zeman visited Czech military units in the the Kosovo region and in Bosnia-Herzegovina last weekend. Together with Defense Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik and Chief of the General Staff Jiri Sedivy, they looked in on the soldiers' working conditions. They handed out NATO medals to soldiers who served in KFOR units in Kosovo. The prime minister had beef soup and sirloin for lunch with soldiers, a message for Czech citizens not to be afraid of beef, despite the discovery of BSE in the Czech Republic (see above). The Czech Republic is about to conclude its participation in the SFOR mission in Bosnia-Hezegovina because of a lack of money, and is considering leaving only specialists at the Civil-Military Co-operation (CIMIC) group. On the other hand, the Czech KFOR mission in Kosovo should be strengthened. Irish Vote against EU Reform Treaty In a referendum where about one-third of eligible voters took part, Ireland rejected the Nice Treaty, which dictated the reform of EU institutions. Ratification of the treaty is necessary for the admission of new members, such as the Czech Republic. According to Gran Persson, prime minister of Sweden, the EU's semi-annual chair country, the result could slow the development of the EU. Others, including Romano Prodi, chairman of the European Commission, remain optimists and say there is no threat to the admission of candidate countries. Foreign news by Dana Zlatohlavkova/Adam Fendrych FROM SLOVAKIA Dzurinda's Visit to USA Supports Slovakia's Drive to Join NATO Slovak Premier Mikulas Dzurinda met with US President George Bush for the first time June 8. They mainly discussed NATO expansion, as well as the situation in the Balkans, the future of European security policy and relations between the EU and NATO. Dzurinda described the meeting as very encouraging for Slovakia's potential membership in NATO. During his visit in Washington Dzurinda supported the US intention to develop a national anti-missile defense system. Slovakia became one of very few nations, such as the Czech Republic, which have expressed support for the initiative. Dzurinda discussed NATO expansion in a meeting with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. According to the daily SME, Dzurinda told Albright that the opposition Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) has recently been very supportive of Slovak NATO membership, even though the policies of former Premier and incumbent party Chairman Vladimir Meciar caused the removal of Slovakia from the first wave of new NATO members. During his four-day visit, Dzurinda also met with Secretary of State Colin Powell and opened Slovakia's new embassy in a Washington's luxurious diplomatic district. Relations between the countries weakened in the 90's because of the policies of Meciar's Cabinet. The situation changed after the Slovak elections in 1998. Dzurinda previously met with former President Bill Clinton and Albright paid a visit to Slovakia. FROM SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF * Ukraine President Leonid Kucma arrived in Slovakia June 12 for a three-day visit, at the invitation of Slovak President Rudolf Schuster. After a welcoming ceremony in Bratislava, Kucma planted a tree in Presidents' Alley. Slovak Economy Minister Lubomir Harach and the Ukrainian foreign minister signed an agreement on travel-industry cooperation. * According to the Slovak daily Pravda, illiteracy among Slovak Romanies is increasing, mainly among those living in primitive settlements in Eastern Slovakia. Almost one-third of adult Romanies have difficulties reading and writing, and the number of illiterate young people is also starting to rise. According to the Slovak Academy of Sciences, 80 per cent of Romanies fail to graduate from high school. Among many young females the reason is pregnancy. * Inter Bratislava defended its soccer league title by defeating Trencin one round before the end of the regular season. It became the first club in the history of the Slovak premier league to repeat as champion. News from Slovakia by Veronika Pavlu/Sofia Karakeva ECONOMY May Macroeconomic Trends - Inflation up, Unemployment down Inflation was up 5 per cent in May from the level 12 months ago, the biggest 12-month rise since 1998, according to the Czech Statistics Office. The rising inflation is influenced by growing prices for energy, housing, food and telephones. Fuel prices grew significantly, one liter of gasoline costs more than 30 crowns in some towns; prices are likely to rise more as consumption grows in summer. Prices of vegetables and meat grew the most. The declining unemployment rate reached 8.1 per cent in May, the lowest rate in two years. The main cause of the decline is the increased number of seasonal jobs in agriculture and construction. Prague is the Czech region with the lowest unemployment rate, the highest rate is in the Most region. CSOB Raises Service Charges and Closes Branches The biggest Czech bank, the Czechoslovak Trade Bank (Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka, CSOB), hiked the prices of its services. A typical set of client services, such as maintaining an account and sending statements, will cost 2,748 crowns per year, according to the daily MF DNES. The bank followed the trend of increasing charges for operations carried out over the counter, aiming to increase the use of cheaper electronic services. For example, withdrawing money from an ATM remained free of charge. The new price list applies also for the former Investment and Postal Bank (Investicni a postovni banka, IPB), which was taken over by CSOB last year. Former IPB branches will carry the new CSOB logo by the end of August, the IPB logo will vanish for good. Also, IPB's bank code is no longer valid and was replaced by the CSOB code. The merger led to some 50 branches of CSOB being closed. Economy news by Dana Zlatohlavkova/Stepan Vorlicek Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid June 15) -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 EUR = 33.875 country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 20.810 Great Britain 1 GBP 55.249 Denmark 1 DKK 4.542 Japan 100 JPY 32.508 Canada 1 CAD 26.118 IMF 1 XDR 49.584 Hungary 100 HUF 13.711 Norway 1 NOK 4.257 New Zealand 1 NZD 16.529 Poland 1 PLN 10.034 Slovakia 100 SKK 78.750 Slovenia 100 SIT 15.547 Sweden 1 SEK 3.662 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.186 USA 1 USD 39.710 Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 17.320 Belgium 100 BEF 83.974 Finland 1 FIM 5.697 France 1 FRF 5.164 Ireland 1 IEP 43.012 Italy 1000 ITL 17.495 Luxemburg 100 LUF 83.974 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.372 Portugal 100 PTE 16.897 Austria 1 ATS 2.462 Greece 100 GRD 9.941 Spain 100 ESP 20.359 CULTURE National Theater Anniversary The National Theater in Prague opened for the first time 120 years ago June 11. The building has long been seen as a symbol of the Czech desire for independence and self-reliance. A public collection for the construction of the theater began in 1851. Construction began in 1867 on Josef Zitek's design, much pomp accompanied the official commencement of construction in 1868. The scene opened June 11, 1881, but the theater burned down two months later. The rebuilt theater opened November 18, 1883 with Bedrich Smetana's opera Libuse. An anniversary celebration took place in the theater this June 11, where theater benefactors were given awards. There were performances of short operas The Peasant Gentleman (Sedlak kavalir) and the Comedians (Komedianti), directed by Josef Prudek. The National Theater gives about 800 performances a year. The most popular are The Servant of Two Masters and the operas Carmen, Tosca, The Undine (Rusalka) and Don Giovanni. Vera Vonavkova/Adam Fendrych CULTURE IN BRIEF * Legendary Australian hard-rock group AC/DC visited the Czech Republic again. The group performed in Prague's Strahov Stadium June 12 in front of some 25,000 people. AC/DC appreciated performing in Strahov - one of the biggest stadiums in the world - so much that they canceled their concerts in Austria, Poland and Germany. The group, which was founded in the early 70's, performed in the Czech Republic for the first time in 1996. At that time AC/DC sold out the Sport Hall in a record time. The German sextet Rammstein opened the show. * "There was so many good productions that it was hard to decide on the best," said Robert Fowler, chairman of the jury of this year's World Festival of Puppet Art. The festival finished in Prague June 12 and consisted of 29 ensembles from 18 countries. The best production was a dialogue of Moliere's comic heroes prepared by the Holland's Stuffed Puppet Theater. Another work awarded was The Bouquet by the Puppet Theater (Divadlo loutek) from Ostrava, which won the prize for direction. * The festival The New Town's Pot of Laughter opened June 9 with a showing of Tomas Vorel's film Trip out of the City (Cesta z mesta). This year's parade of Czech film comedy, hosted in Nove Mesto nad Metuji, was the 23rd edition of the festival. Seven films are in the running for the grand prize, one of the films is a Czech-Slovak coproduction. Veronika Hankusova SPORTS Soccer Players Save World Cup Chances The Czech national soccer team defeated Northern Ireland 3-1 in a 2002 World Cup qualification match June 6. It kept its hopes alive to advance from the third European qualification group to Japan and South Korea, where the World Cup will take place, despite the Czech team's loss in Denmark. The Czechs are in second place after seven games. Nine group winners and seven runner-ups will advance to the World Cup. About 15,000 spectators watched the drama with one star player. Pavel Kuka ended the team's scoring troubles with his second goal, two minutes before the end. Coach Jozef Chovanec included Tomas Rosicky in the squad and made a fortuitous decision to replace Vladimir Smicer with Kuka. "We outplayed our opponent in all areas, but we had to overcome him with patience," said Chovanec. The Czechs kept their opponent on his half during most of the game. However, the Irish did manage to reply to the first Czech goal (scored by Kuka on Karel Poborsky's pass) before the break. A free Philip Mulryne tied the score on the first Irish shot on goal. In the second half, the Czechs turned up the pressure, but did not celebrate till Kuka's goal in the 88th minute. "I have no idea what happened then," said the happy forward. Substitute Milan Baros added the insurance goal. Adam Fendrych/Mirek Langer Two Czechs Have Stanley Cup The Colorado Avalanche won the NHL's Stanley Cup, beating the New Jersey Devils in the seventh game of the finals 3-1 June 9. Two Czech players held Lord Stanley's Cup: wing Milan Hejduk and defenseman Martin Skoula. The Czechs were the most productive players on the beaten team: Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora led the Devils. Two new Czech names were added to the Cup for the NHL winner, together the 10th and 11th Czechs to have their names thus immortalized. Two Czechs managed to win the trophy three times: Jaroslav Pouzar (with Edmonton in 1984, 1985 a 1987) and Jiri Hrdina (in 1989 with Calgary and in 1991 and 1992 with Pittsburgh). Jaromir Jagr and Robert Holik won the Stanley Cup twice. Adam Fendrych/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) President Rene Fasel and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman signed a contract for NHL clubs to pay about 29 million USD for European players who go to the NHL. European club representatives say their clubs do not get enough money for the players they trained and who become key players for NHL teams. * Josef Augusta (together with assistants Vladimir Martinec and Nagano Olympics gold-medal hockey team captain Vladimir Ruzicka) will coach the Czech national hockey team for the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics. Augusta has been leading the team since the Nagano Olympics team coach Ivan Hlinka left for the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. Hlinka will be the Czech Olympic team's general manager. * Petr Pala and Pavel Vizner lost in the finals of the French Open men's doubles tournament. They were beaten by India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes 6:7 and 3:6. * Pavel Nedved prolonged his contract with the Italian soccer league's Lazio Rome till 2006. Although some top teams wanted the Czech national team captain (including 90 million DEM bid from Juventus Turin), he remains in Rome, where he said wants to end his career. Fans were against Nedved's transfer: they stopped cheering for 15 minutes during the game against Fiorentina. Adam Fendrych, Jana Nyklova/Mirek Langer WEATHER In a few days summer will officially be here, but where has spring gone? It's cloudy, windy, and, we are afraid to say, rather chilly (the average temperature in May was 16.9 degrees Celsius/62.5 degrees Fahrenheit). It was rainy and cold June 8, the day that Czech tradition says reflects the weather for the entire coming summer. Don't we have a right to at least a little summer? 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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