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Carolina (English) No 144
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STUDENT'S E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Faculty of Social Science of Charles University
Smetanovo nabr. 6
110 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic
e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz
tel: (+42 2) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+42 2) 24810987
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C A R O L I N A No 144, Friday, January 20, 1995.
EVENTS FOR THE WEEK JAN. 11-18, 1995
Gov't Members Charge Secret Service With Spying on Political Parties
Leaders of two of the four political parties in the Czech
governing coalition have accused the Security Information Service
(BIS) of "gathering material against parliamentary political
parties, and going beyond its lawful duties in doing so".
Jan Kalvoda, chairman of the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) and
deputy premier, made this statement at a news conference on Friday,
Jan. 13. His accusation was seconded the same day by Josef Lux,
chairman of the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party
(KDU-CSL) and minister of agriculture.
Both BIS Provisional Director Stanislav Devaty and Interior
Ministry spokesman Jan Subrt emphatically denied any wrongdoing on the
part of the intelligence agency. Devaty asked Vlastimil Doubrava, head
of the parliamentary body for oversight of the BIS, to take up the
issue as soon as possible.
On Monday afternoon, Jan. 16, there was a special meeting of the
leaders of the government coalition, in addition to Kalvoda's ODA and
Lux's KDU-CSL, consisting of Czech Premier Vaclav Klaus's Civic
Democratic Party (ODS) and the Christian Democratic Party (KDS),
headed by Ivan Pilip, the minister of education.
After the meeting Klaus, who as premier is responsible for the
coordination of Czech security services, said the materials presented
to him were not enough to convince him of a systemic breakdown in the
state's security mechanisms.
Also on Monday, President Vaclav Havel voiced his view on the
matter, following a three-hour meeting with Lux and Kalvoda, saying
the party leaders' arguments were convincing but that he did not
believe the confirmation of their suspicions could destabilize the
country's political system or threaten democracy.
Petr Roubal/Martina Vojtechovska
Walesa Stands by His Guns: Polish Reforms Better Than Czech
Polish President Lech Walesa softened his criticism of Czech
economic reform during a two-day visit to Prague, Jan. 17 and 18,
though he still maintains that his country's path to reform is
superior to the one chosen by the Czechs.
While in the past Walesa had denounced the Czech coupon
privatization scheme as a higher form of socialism, according to the
Czech daily Mlada fronta Dnes, on his first day in Prague Walesa said
he believed it was 'interesting' and that some aspects of it might be
applicable in Poland as well.
The Polish president stressed that on this, his first visit to the
country since Czechoslovakia split into two independent countries on
Jan. 1, 1993, he had come "to build" rather than "to destroy what
troubled our two nations in the past".
In his talks with Walesa, Czech President Vaclav Havel reminded
Walesa that this was his first visit to the independent Czech Republic
and noted that both sides had plenty to say to each other concerning
the situation in Europe as a whole as well as in their own countries.
Also during Walesa's stay, Czech Interior Minister Jan Ruml signed
a treaty on cross-border contacts with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej
Milczanowski. Once approved by the two countries' legislatures, this
treaty will enable citizens of either state who live within 15 km of
the border to take visits to the other country using only their
national IDs as identification. Jakub Knezu/Martina Vojtechovska
EU Integration Unstoppable: Belgian Premier in Prague
The European Union's process of integration, in which the Czech
Republic has an eminent interest, can no longer be turned back,
Belgian Premier Jean-Luc Dehaene said during a three-day visit to
Prague, Jan. 15 to 17.
In meetings with President Havel and Premier Klaus, the Belgian
prime minister pledged his government's support for the Czechs'
application to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD).
Both he and Klaus said they considered relations between the two
countries to be optimal and agreed to conclude as soon as possible as
yet unsigned agreements providing for better cooperation.
Jakub Knezu/Martina Vojtechovska
Says Gaidar: After Chechenia, Russia Can't Block NATO for East Europe
Yegor Gaidar, who served as premier of the Russian reform
government until December 1992 and is considered the chief architect
of Russia's economic transformation, said Jan. 16 in Prague that after
what has happened in Chechenia, Russia can no longer object to the
post-Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe joining the
NATO military alliance.
In a meeting with members of Czech Parliament's foreign affairs
committee, the Czech daily Lidove noviny reported, Gaidar said also
that he appreciated the resolute stance of President Havel and the
Czech Republic against Russia's actions in Chechenia.
Gaidar arrived in Prague Jan. 15 at the invitation of the Bohemia
Foundation for meetings with President Havel, Premier Klaus and
Finance Minister Ivan Kocarnik.
On his arrival Sunday, the Russian economist said he was disturbed
by the possible consequences of his country's actions in Chechenia. He
pointed out that while Moscow is supplying the Chechens with food, it
is also engaged in a war with them and will have to compensate them
for the resultant damage. He described the action as positively
amateur on the part of Russian military leaders.
Jakub Knezu/Sofi Karakeva
KDU-CSL Slapped With Fine of Half a Million Crowns
The Czech Ministry of Finance has levied a fine of 550,000 Kc on
the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party, a member
of the government coalition, for violating the country's law on hard
currency and exchange.
In 1992 the party took out a loan of foreign currency worth 5.5
million Kc from Italian businessman Leonell Moska without obtaining
the proper permit and without announcing the loan to the Czechoslovak
State Bank, as required by law.
KDU-CSL's loan first attracted attention when Moska was
apprehended by the Italian police for suspicion of drug trafficking.
Mirek Langer/Sofi Karakeva
The Forgotten Anniversary of Jan Palach's Death
Sunday, Jan. 15, in Vsetaty, central Bohemia, Minister of
Education Ivan Pilip spoke at a ceremony marking the 26th anniversary
of Jan Palach's death. Palach was the Czech student who set himself on
fire on Prague's Wenceslas Square Jan. 16, 1969, to protest the 1968
Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.
The Czech media, politicians and citizens paid little attention to
the anniversary, although some 30 members of the radical right
Assembly for the Republic-Czechoslovak Republican Party turned out for
a demonstration on Prague's Wenceslas Square. A 160-strong police
force was on hand to observe them. Mirek Langer/Sofi Karakeva
Brutal Secret Police Interrogator Hangs Himself
A former interrogator of the StB secret police was found hung to
death on Monday, Jan. 9, in the attic of his home in Trutnov, northern
Bohemia. An autopsy concluded that the hanging was a suicide.
Mr. Pich-Tuma was infamous for the brutal interrogation methods he
used on prisoners in Communist Czechoslovakia in the 1950s. Among his
crueler acts, Pich-Tuma shot to death Petr Konecny, a member of the
National Socialist Party, and tortured many others, one of whom later
died from his injuries.
The Czech press began devoting attention to Pich-Tuma in 1991,
when thanks to a procedural error on the part of a prosecutor,
Pich-Tuma was freed of the charge of sabotage, for which he had been
convicted in 1953. He was again investigated in 1968 and 1969, but the
August 1968 Soviet invasion and its aftermath prevented the case from
reaching a conclusion.
Most recently, the Office for the Documentation and Investigation
of StB Activities accused Pich-Tuma of crimes in late 1994.
Petr Roubal/Sofi Karakeva
FROM SLOVAKIA
More Than 5 Percent of Slovaks Parted With Homeland in 1994
Some 300,000 people gave up their Slovak citizenship last year, more
than the country lost in both World Wars combined, according to a Jan.
11 article in the Slovak daily Narodna obroda.
Most of those leaving Slovakia, the paper said, are young
scientists and business managers who see better job opportunities in
other countries. The population of Slovakia is roughly 5 million.
According to the daily, the country's high rate of emigration is
not discussed in public. Mirek Langer/Sofi Karakeva
ECONOMIC NEWS
Makovec Replaced as General Director of SPT Telecom
Jiri Makovec was dismissed on Tuesday, Jan. 17, as general director of
SPT Telecom, the monopoly operator of the Czech Republic's
telecommunications system.
Makovec, who was recalled from his post by Economics Minister
Karel Dyba, had been criticized in recent weeks by SPT's Board of
Directors for bad relations with the press, among other things. In
December of last year he was dismissed as chairman of the board (see
Carolina no. 143).
On Wednesday, Jan. 18, Svatoslav Novak was named to replace
Makovec. Novak, who has been serving as deputy minister for
telecommunications at the Ministry of Economics, said his top
priorities were to work on the selection of a foreign investor to buy
27 percent of the firm, to clarify the company's pricing policies, and
to improve the company's public image.
Lida Truneckova/Alex Zucker
Unemployment in '94 Lower Than Expected
The average rate of unemployment in the Czech Republic last year
was 3.3 percent, not the 5 percent figure forecast by the Ministry of
Labor and Social Affairs, according to information released by the
ministry on Friday, Jan. 13.
In districts with above average jobless rates, such as the North
Moravian district of Bruntal with 8 percent unemployment, most of
those without work fall into the category of laborers.
Lida Truneckova/Alex Zucker
Flow of Black Gold to Czechs Cut Off
For the second time already in 1995, oil supplies from Russia to
both the Czech Republic and Slovakia stopped on Monday, Jan. 9. The
first time was on Jan. 1 when the Russians turned off the taps to
celebrate the New Year.
The cause of the Jan. 9 interruption was a dispute between the
Russian Federation and Ukraine over the fees for transporting Russian
oil over Ukrainian territory. The oil began to flow again after the
two parties concluded a contract for 1995 and the Russians paid
transit fees for Jan. 1 through 9 in arrears.
While the Czech Republic is also hooked up to the Adria pipeline,
which crosses the territory of the former Yugoslavia, it remains
dependent on the Druzhba pipeline from Russia due to security problems
with the Adria.
Later this year the Ingolstadt pipeline will be put into
operation, supplying Czech refineries with oil from Western Europe.
Jakub Knezu/Alex Zucker
Exchange Rates of the Czech National Bank (valid from Jan. 20)
Checks Cash
country buy sell middle buy sell
Great Britain 1 GPB 43.403 43.839 43.621 42.20 45.04
France 1 FRF 5.213 5.265 5.239 5.04 5.44
Japan 100 JPY 27.745 28.023 27.884 26.58 29.18
Canada 1 CAD 19.478 19.674 19.576 18.69 20.47
Austria 1 ATS 2.559 2.585 2.572 2.51 2.63
Germany 1 DEM 18.008 18.188 18.098 17.64 18.56
Switzerland 1 CHF 21.360 21.574 21.467 20.97 21.97
USA 1 USD 27.661 27.939 27.800 27.10 28.50
Slovakia 1 XCU -- -- 34.275 -- --
CULTURE
Josef Kemr of National Theater Dead at 72
Czech actor Josef Kemr, best known for his work with the National
Theater from the mid 1960s on, died Sunday, Jan. 15, at the age of 72.
Born June 20, 1922, Kemr first appeared on the silver screen at
the tender age of 15 in the film Lizin let do nebe (Lisa's Flight to
Heaven), and during the World War II years he was a member of Anna
Budinska-Cervickova's traveling theater company.
Of the more than 100 films Kemr acted in, the most famous were the
comedies Skola zaklad zivota (School, the Foundation of Life) and
Cesta do hlubin studakovy duse (Journey to the Depths of a Student's
Soul), the musical Starci na chmelu (Picking Hops with the
Old-timers), Frantisek Vlacil's film adaptation of Vitezslav Nezval's
epic Marketa Lazarova, and the more recent comedies Marecka, podejte
mi pero! (Hand Me a Pen, Margie!), Na samote u lesa (All Alone by the
Woods), and Bajecni muzi s klikou (Great Guys with Good Luck).
Kemr's last performance was at the National Theater in Karel
Steigerwald's Nobel, which premiered in November of last year.
The obituaries in the Czech press note the actor's deep religious
faith and tolerance, his inner stability and the courageousness with
which he faced the incurable disease that finally led to his death.
Petr Roubal/Alex Zucker
SPORTS
Number 3 Is Just As Sweet: Loprais Wins Dakar for Tatra
With Karel Loprais at the wheel, Tatra trucks took first place in
this year's Granada-Dakar Rally for the third time.
While the Czech team got out to a slow start, following the
Russian Kamaz crew, they took the race when the Russian driver
Moskovit lost control and overturned his vehicle in the last stage.
The Czechs also took third place with the team led by driver
Vlastimil Buchtyar. Mirek Langer/Sofi Karakeva
Davis Cup Captain Talks Czech Four into Starting in Italy
After personal talks with his players in Melbourne, site of the
Australian Open, the first grand slam tournament of 1995, Vladislav
Savrda, the non-playing captain of the Czech Davis Cup squad,
convinced the rebels to accept the terms offered by the tennis
federation and represent their country in the first round of the Davis
Cup against Italy.
Rikl, Damm, Suk and Vacek had been refusing to represent the Czech
Republic because of low pay, though they also have problems with the
work of the federation as a whole. To prove that they care about more
than just money, the four have decided to donate to charity 5,000
dollars from the money they receive. Mirek Langer/Sofi Karakeva
Opening of NHL Season Mixes Up Cards in Czech Extra-League
The start-up of the NHL season weakened the teams of the Czech
Extra-League going into the 31st round as many Czechs who had come
back to their homeland to play have now returned to their North
American squads.
The veteran Ruzicka put his overseas experience to good use and
shined for Slavia Praha, putting four pucks in the Jihlava net.
Vitkovice was losing at home to Sparta 6-3 when the referee put an end
to the game on account of mist on the ice.
Olomouc and Kladno are riding the top of the standings, while
Pardubice remains in the cellar - apparently having Dominik Hasek in
uniform for two games hasn't been enough.
After Friday's round the season will be three-fourths over.
Round 31: Vitkovice-Sparta Praha 3:6 (unfinished), Vsetin-Zlin 2:1,
Slavia Praha-Jihlava 6:6, Kladno-Plzen 6:3, Pardubice-Litvinov 3:4,
Olomouc-Ceske Budejovice 3:3.
Round 32: Ceske Budejovice-Plzen 1:1, Olomouc-Pardubice 3:3,
Zlin-Vitkovice 5:7, Litvinov-Slavia Praha 7:3, Jihlava-Vsetin 3:0,
Sparta Praha-Kladno 2:3. Mirek Langer/Sofi Karakeva
WEATHER
Dear Readers:
Thank you for your warm New Year's messages. The Carolina will
continue to come out this year every Friday except for the summer when
it will be sent out less frequently.
During January and February, which is our exam period, the
Carolina will be more compact. But even with our thinned-down staff,
we will make an effort not to miss anything important.
As in 1994, the editors of Carolina will introduce themselves one
by one, although this year it will be the authors of each individual
edition.
Your Editors
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