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 428, Friday, August 10, 2001 FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS (July 25 - August 8) British Officials Stop Checks at Prague Airport August 8 was to be the last day for British consular officials to check travelers to London at Prague' s Ruzyne Airport, after an agreement was reached by Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan and British Foreign Deputy for Europe Peter Hain. There was a significant drop in the number of Czech applicants requesting asylum in Britain. In the three weeks before the checks, 204 people applied for asylum, during the checks the number dropped to 12 applications. If the number of applicants rises again, the British authorities are prepared, in cooperation with the Czech Government, to run new checks. Both parties are trying to avoid visa requirements. Since July 18, when the checks were introduced, British immigration officials have forbidden 120 people - almost all Romany - from entering Britain. Representatives of Romany associations and organizations for human rights protested against the checks because they considered them an act of discrimination. Denis Keefe, second secretary of the British Embassy in Prague, denied the charge. Even the Inter-ministry Commission for Romany Issues called on the Czech government to end the checks. Czech Television (CT) showed in a news piece broadcast July 25 that the airport checks were meant for Romanies. Two CT reporters, Nora Novakova, who is white, and Richard Samko, who is a Romany, tried to fly to Britain the same day; they both had the same tickets, the same amount of money and both of them stated the same reasons for their visit. While Novakova was allowed to fly without any problems, Samko was denied admission to Britain. British officials did not reject only Romanies. Three young women were not permitted to fly, two of them with paid studies. Both young women asked for their cases to be reexamined, and they were in the end permitted to fly. The other young woman wanted to fly along with a British family as an au pair. Representatives of the Czech Helsinki Association observed the activities of British officials during the checks. They did not see any discriminatory behavior. Romanies Inform European Commission Chief of the European Commission delegation in the Czech Republic Ramiro Cibrian met with representatives of Romany groups August 6. Ondrej Gina, speaker for the Leadership of Romany Regional Representatives, said that with Cibrian they discussed not only the situation in Ruzyne Airport but they also presented him a letter about the situation of the Romany minority in the Czech Republic. The letter also referred to the recent, racially motivated murder of Ota Absolon, who was killed in a disco in Svitavy July 20 by a skinhead with a knife. The same day as the meeting, August 6, journalists, photographers and cameramen were vainly waiting in front of the British Embassy in Prague for a demonstration against Romany discrimination to take place. Of the announced series of demonstrations in European cities organized by the Europe Roma organization, only a peaceful demonstration was held in Kosice, Slovakia. In Prague seven young people gathered in front of the British Embassy. None of the organizers was present. Some reports indicate the Romany exodus to Great Britain continues, but it now leads through Poland and Germany. Temelin Activated Again The nuclear reactor of the Temelin nuclear power station will be activated again. The energy tests, which were interrupted in May due to problems with vibration in a turbine (see Carolina 418), will continue, said Temelin General Director Frantisek Hezoucky at a press conference August 7. The Austrian Green Party considers the restoration of Temelin's test operations an "irresponsible act." The Czech Energy Company (CEZ) provides detailed information on the coming testing of Temelin on their web site www.cez.cz, which is also in English and German. Two-Day Techno Party About 12,000 people danced through the weekend of July 28-29 at an unapproved techno party at the former army base in Ralsko. Unknown organizers chose a large clearing in a forest far from the nearest village but near a nature reserve. Police tried to end the party on the morning of July 29 after a complaint was made by the mayor of Ralsko. Partygoers did not adhere to a request to leave by 10 a.m., but most left by the evening. There were no incidents with police, but all drivers were fined for illegally driving on the path through the forest. NEWS IN BRIEF * The Czech minority Social Democrat Cabinet rejected the Senate-proposed referendum on EU membership and decided to continue pushing its own bill on referendums. The Cabinet argued that a Referendum Act should be for universal use, not for one time. * The UN Human Rights Committee observing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights published July 24 its remarks on the human-rights situation in the Czech Republic. One of the 27 sections recommends the Czech state "establish an independent body with authority to investigate all complaints of excessive use of force and other abuses of power by the police." For the time being, all complaints about police abuses are investigated by a section of the Interior Ministry. * Foreign Minister Jan Kavan underwent angioplasty surgery on his coronary arteries August 4. Kavan has a history of heart attacks and the a multiple bypass was done on his heart last December. Three days later, August 7, Kavan spoke at a press conference on the issue of British immigration checks in Prague (see above). * An L-39 Albatros military training fighter crashed August 1 near Pelhrimov. A military speaker said the cause of the crash was the pilot's inexperience when he tried to make an unplanned acrobatic maneuver to impress his relatives in Pelhrimov. The pilot died. FROM SLOVAKIA Government Coalition Again Looking Shaky The Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) has presented the government coalition three conditions to be met for the party's continued presence in the government. The SMK wants to change the number of administrative regions in Slovakia from the recently approved eight to 12 (see Carolina 413, 426). The SMK also demands that from the administrative reforms be removed paragraphs - proposed by opposition Movement for a Democratic Slovakia legislator Jan Cupera - that give greater authority to the government. Lastly, the SMIK demands that the two-round election system for the leaders of the administrative regions be changed to one round. The governing coalition's Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) has said the three demands are acceptable, while the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and the Party of the Democratic Left (SDL') have not. The leaders of the four government coalition parties met August 3 without reaching a conclusion. "At first it looked like some coalition partners didn't even realize that this is a serious situation," said SMK Chairman Bela Bugar. The SMK has three Cabinet members (deputy premier for human rights and minorities, the ministers of environment and construction). SMK leadership is to meet August 10 to make a definitive decision on its presence in the government. FROM SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF * The Central Council of the Slovak National Party (SNS) July 28 recalled eight of the party's legislators. The eight had recently tried to overthrow party Chairwoman Anna Malikova. The party is faced with the collapse of its legislators' club, because the remaining five legislators are not enough to keep the club functioning. Among the eight is longtime former party Chairman Jan Slota, who had made vulgar references to Malikova. ECONOMY Sale of UMTS Licenses Begins The Czech Telecommunications Office August 8 accepted requests from firms wishing to participate in the tender for third-generation UMTS licenses in the Czech Republic. The government had hoped the tender for three licenses would mean 20 billion crowns for state coffers, but all indications point toward a lower sum. Two firms requested licenses: Eurotel and RadioMobil. Czech Mobile, the third mobile-telephone operator in the Czech Republic, will not participate in the tender, and the two firms in the tender have let it be known they want to renegotiate the state's asking price of 6.7 billion crowns per license. The firms have proposed a price reduction, a long-term payment calendar, tax breaks and competition limits. Plans call for the tender to be closed by the end of September. Czech Telecom Takes over Eurotel Completely Czech Telecom closed a preliminary agreement with Atlantic West for the purchase of Atlantic West's 49-per-cent share in Eurotel, the largest provider of mobile telephone services in the Czech Republic (2.65 million clients). Czech Telecom owns 51 per cent. Czech Telecom, which will pay about 1.475 million USD for total control of Eurotel, made the move to raise its own worth in light of its coming privatization. Inflation Estimates Raised The consumer-price index rose in July by 5.9 per cent compared to July 2000, and financial analysts revised their 2001 inflation estimates up to as high as 6 per cent. The Czech National Bank cautioned that the unexpected July inflation occurred only in certain areas, such as rent, gas and travel, while the overall situation remained stable. Other analysts pointed out the rise in food prices. It is expected that the bank will raise its interest rates sometime in August. Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid August 10) -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 EUR = 33.855 country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 19.766 Great Britain 1 GBP 54.364 Denmark 1 DKK 4.549 Japan 100 JPY 30.982 Canada 1 CAD 24.936 IMF 1 XDR 48.156 Hungary 100 HUF 13.687 Norway 1 NOK 4.243 New Zealand 1 NZD 16.269 Poland 1 PLN 9.081 Slovakia 100 SKK 79.161 Slovenia 100 SIT 15.436 Sweden 1 SEK 3.694 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.585 USA 1 USD 38.259 Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 17.310 Belgium 100 BEF 83.924 Finland 1 FIM 5.694 France 1 FRF 5.161 Ireland 1 IEP 42.987 Italy 1000 ITL 17.485 Luxemburg 100 LUF 83.924 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.363 Portugal 100 PTE 16.887 Austria 1 ATS 2.460 Greece 100 GRD 9.935 Spain 100 ESP 20.347 CULTURE Erotic Summer Film School Lovers of films outside the mainstream gathered in the Moravian town of Uherske Hradiste for the 27th Summer Film School. The festival, organized by, began July 27 and lasted 10 days. A record number of guests - 2,800 - registered for the festival, and they could choose from 300 films and a number of other events. Sections at this year's festival included film and dance, experimental film, Dutch film, films from the former Yugoslavia and others. The main section of this year's festival, however, was Film and Erotica, which was opened by French director Catherine Breillat, whose films were also shown. Critics appreciated the selection of Yugoslav films, including works by directors Dusan Makavejev and Lordan Zafranovic. The biggest event of the festival was when the director of the Czech film flop Cabriolet, Marcel Bystron, physically attacked critic Jan Jaros, who had written in the festival catalogue that critics had not been overwhelmed by Bystron's film. SPORTS Tomas Dvorak Wins Third Decathlon World Championship Tomas Dvorak won the only Czech medal so far in the Track and Field World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. The former decathlon world-record holder won his third title in a row and tied the most successful decathlete in championships history, American Dan O'Brien. Dvorak recorded 8,902 points, the third-highest tally ever. He missed a world record especially thanks to the discus, where he threw far shorter than his abilities. "I want to concentrate only on the defense of the title, no records," said Dvorak during the competition. Estonia's Olympic champion Erki Nool finished in second place, while Britain's Dean Macey was third. Czech Roman Sebrle, who this year became the first decathlete ever to break the 9,000-point barrier, suffered a groin injury, although he completed the decathlon and finished 10th with 8,174 points. The third Czech - Jiri Ryba - finished four places higher (8,334 points). Also, javelin thrower Nikola Tomeckova almost won a medal. She won the qualification round after breaking the Czech record with 65.71 meters. In the competition, she threw 260 centimeters shorter than her qualifying performance and finished fourth. The indoor world and European champion Pavla Hamackova finished sixth in the pole vault at 4.45 meters, Jiri Malysa was seventh in the 20km road walking race. Gambrinus Soccer Extraleague Begins Results of the 1st round (July 28-29): FK Teplice - SK Sigma Olomouc 0-1, FK Chmel Blsany - AC Sparta Praha 3-0, 1.FC Synot Nove Mesto - FC Slovan Liberec 0-2, CU Bohemians Praha - SFC Opava 2-0, FC Stavo Artikel Brno - FC Marila Pribram 2-1, FC Banik Ostrava - FK Viktoria Zizkov 2-1, SK Slavia Praha - FK Drnovice 4-3, FK Jablonec 97 - SK Hradec Kralove 5-1 Results of the 2nd round (August 3-5): Jablonec - Slavia Praha 3-1, Hradec Kralove - Sparta Praha 0-5, Drnovice - Banik Ostrava 1-2, Viktoria Zizkov - Teplice 3-0, Olomouc - Brno 0-0, Pribram - Bohemians Praha 1-5, Opava - Synot Nove Mesto 1-2, Liberec - Blsany 2-0 At the top of the chart are four teams with six points: Jablonec, Bohemians Praha, Liberec and Ostrava. SPORTS IN BRIEF * Czech triathletes made a 1-2 finish in the World Cup event in Corner Brook, Canada. Martin Krnavek defeated second-place finisher and European champion Filip Ospaly. * Chmel Blsany soccer players were eliminated from the Intertoto Cup semifinals after a 1-2 loss to Brescia at home. The teams tied in Italy 2-2. * Together with five titles on the last day of competitions, the Czechs won 14 medals overall in the European Sport Shooting Championships in Zagreb, Croatia; Miroslav Janus and Lubos Opelka won individual titles in the 50m running-target mixed and standard rifle, respectively. * Beach volleyball players Eva Celbova and Sona Dosoudilova won a bronze in the world championships in Klagenfurt, Austria, the best Czech result ever in the sport. * Czech Adriana Gersi defeated Switzerland's Mikaelian in the final of the Basel Open tennis tournament and won her first WTA Tour title. WEATHER After a heat wave at the end of July, the weather has changed abruptly over the beginning of the August 4-5 weekend, when wind storms and thunderstorms moved slowly from Southern Bohemia to Northern Moravia, leaving behind fallen trees, destroyed roofs and windows broken by hail. Two persons - a man in a tent and a woman riding a bike - were killed by falling trees. The forecast for August calls for volatile weather, but rather warm. This issue of Carolina was written by Alzbeta Trousilova, Andrea Slovakova, Mirek Langer and Milan Smid and translated by Sofia Karakeva, Langer, Smid and Michael Bluhm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with attribution to CAROLINA. Subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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