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Carolina (English) No 262
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STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC
Faculty of Social Science of Charles University
Smetanovo nabr. 6
110 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic
e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz
tel: (+4202) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+4202) 24810987
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 262, Friday, October 24, 1997.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (October 15 - 22)
Zieleniec Leaves Political Posts
Josef Zieleniec, who stands in the polls as the ruling Civic
Democratic Party's (ODS) and the governing coalition's most popular
member, sent shock waves through the political scene when he announced
his departure from the his posts as foreign minister and ODS vice
chairman.
At first, President Vaclav Havel refused to accept Zieleniec's
resignation, but then agreed later in the evening, following talks with
Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus.
Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Jaroslav Sedivy is to be named
the new foreign minister.
Lida Truneckova/Andrea Snyder
Budget Proposal in Second Round
Ninety-nine Parliament votes passed the first reading of the
proposed 1998 budget. The government says spending and income will be
balanced at 536.6 billion crowns. The decision once again rested on
independent Jozef Wagner, who changed his mind several times in the past
few days. In the end he decided to abstain from voting, which reduced
the necessary number of yes votes to the 99 held by the coalition.
Wagner's position to make demands of the government is due to
Parliament's current composition. The coalition holds 100 of 200 seats,
the opposition holds 98 and Marie Noveska and Jozef Wagner are
independents. Noveska, however, usually votes with the Social Democrats,
the party from which she and Wagner were expelled.
ODS spokesman Vaclav Musilek said for Carolina: "Wagner has been
suggesting various preconditions at various times. The Civic Democratic
Party (ODS) is ready to negotiate them, with exception of (Prime
Minister) Vaclav Klaus's resignation. After all, I have never heard such
a demand from him."
Stanislav Gross, head of the Social Democrats' parliamentary club,
commented on Wagner's behavior for Carolina: "He is doing whatever he
wants. In my opinion, it is no use to deal with his declarations,
because their validity sometimes did not last more than one hour's
time."
The very last change of Wagner's decision was influenced
paradoxically by the exaggerated performance of Milos Zeman, chairman of
the Chamber of Deputies and the Social Democrats. Zeman, in an emotional
and critical speech on government policy, said: "The government which
tolerates thieves objectively becomes through this tolerance
a government of thieves. The government which tolerates the fund
pillagers, is a fund pillager itself. And the government which tolerates
frauds becomes objectively a government of frauds."
After this speech Wagner changed his original plan not to support
the budget. "Any reasonable citizen will agree with me. The Social
Democrats under the leadership of Milos Zeman do not represent an
alternative for this country," Wagner explained the change to daily MF
DNES.
An unusually upset Klaus rejected Zeman's speech: "That was an
unreal and unheard-of speech, performed by a vile, shaking voice full of
hate. The statement about 'government of thieves' is unprecendented in
a civilized society."
Ondrej Drabek, Michal Cerny/Andrea Snyder, Milan Smid
Romany Emigration in News Again
Czech Romanies (Gypsies) are now demanding asylum in Great Britain.
During the weekend of October 18-19, 171 applications were registered.
Forty-six of the applications were from Slovak citizens, the other 125
were submitted by Czechs. Although about 800 Romanies are now being
detained in southern England, fewer are arriving in the holding camps.
Mike O'Brien, Deputy at the British Interior Ministry, warned
against attempts to abuse the British asylum and social system, saying
those who did would be sent back as quickly as possible. He also said
the Romany issue would not disrupt relations between the Czech Republic
and Great Britain.
The Count and Countess of Kent are providing shelter for applicants
for refugee status. They estimate the expenses to be between 1 million
pounds and 2 million pounds. Each married couple receives 70 pounds
weekly along with child support.
The British government is considering a similar method to the one
Canada recently chose (see Carolina 260): reinstating visa requirements
if the number of asylum-seekers does not go down, said O'Brien and
British Embassy in Prague spokesman Zbynek Havranek.
About 40 Romanies were still in Calais, France October 21. Some
refugees are returned to the seaport town when turned away from Great
Britain. Many say they will go anywhere else in the world, but they are
afraid of their native Czech Republic.
This is all very embarrassing for the Czech Republic on an
international level. Jonathan Stein of the Institute for East-West
Studies said the situation could affect the Czech Republic's admission
into the EU. Josef Kreuter, Czech Ambassador to the EU, agrees. He said
visa requirements could be a problem, as none of the other EU countries
require visas of each other.
Karolina Kucerova/Andrea Snyder
Almost One-Fifth of Czech Population Longs for Communism
Almost one-fifth (18 percent) of Czech poll respondents would rather
live in a socialist system. One-quarter of respondents cannot decide
whether they prefer the kind of life before or after November 1989's
Velvet Revolution. The rest - 57 per cent - of the respondents are
strongly for the current political system. This opinion poll was taken
by the Factum agency for the Czech daily MF DNES.
According to other opinion polls, socialism is gaining more support
in the Czech Republic. A June opinion poll taken by the Institute for
Public Opinion Research showed that 25 per cent of respondents would
rather return to the period before November 1989.
Ludvik Pospisil/Sofia Karakeva
Klaus rejects Lux's allegations of political parochialism
The state of the Czech army before joining NATO and further
personnel changes in the Defense Ministry were the subject of
discussions between the Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus (Civic Democratic
Party - ODS) and Defense Minister Miloslav Vyborny (Christian Democrats)
October 20. The prime minister has for the time being rejected
Vyborny's request to appoint an ODS representative a deputy minister,
stating such a step, taken before the actual realization of fundamental
personnel changes among the deputy ministers, would be "suicidal."
Josef Lux, chairman of the Christian Democrats and agriculture
minister, called Klaus' statement politically small-minded, said ODS was
avoiding responsibility and putting its own interest before the public
interest. Klaus said he felt offended and discomforted by Lux's words.
On the live Czech Television program 21 that night Klaus said next time
he was going to think twice whether to remain as loyal as he had been so
far, when, after the meeting with Vyborny, he had "saved face" and had
not criticized his coalition partner's ministry.
The first of the personnel changes, which Vyborny expected to stop
critical attacks against his ministry, is the resignation of Deputy
Minister Hana Demlova (Christian Democrats), who is leaving the
personnel department at her own request.
Lenka Vochocova/Nora Novakova
Vyborny: SS Archives Are Secured
Defense Minister Miloslav Vyborny (Christian Democrats) disagreed
October 16 with claims that archives of material related to the SS were
closed by his office. "We only secured the archives so that they would
be preserved in their completeness and so that they could serve for
punishing the crimes of holocaust," said Vyborny in the October 17
edition of the daily Slovo.
The matter came to light after Brewster Chamberlin and Ralph
Grunewald, experts from Washington's Holocaust Museum, were not allowed
into the archives in the Army Historical Institute in Prague. The
command for blocking 19 key archives from the Third Reich was issued
September 9. Nevertheless, the order had never been published before the
incident.
In the words of Deputy Minister Vladimir Suman, the Ministry of
Defense insists that anybody interested in studying those materials can
ask for permission. The present practice could discourage some of those
concerned, according to several archive staff members.
Jiri Kudila, an employee from the Office of the President, said that
a Czech-American agreement on holocaust research cooperation is being
prepared. This agreement plans for access of American experts into the
Czech archives, including the possibility of acquiring copies of Nazi
documents. The agreement should prevent a similar incident from
occurring.
Jakub Svab/Ivona Pulkrabkova
Political Club Founded
A new political group which political commentators say could gain
sizeable influence has arisen around the independent Parliament deputy
Jozef Wagner. Wagner, who was expelled from the Social Democrats last
year because of his vote for the government budget proposal, has become
kind of a deciding figure in the present stalemate situation in
Parliament. It is his vote that ensures the necessary majority for
crucial government proposals.
The Political Club now calls itself a "discussion platform." During
the first days of its existence, several hundred members joined the new
organization and Wagner said its later transformation into a political
party is possible.
"It seems ridiculous to me that people want to hear: this is the
next successful political party, when just the creation of some kind of
civic association in the form of a political club is being decided.
That's not the point, although it is possible that within the club
a certain number of people will unite who will want to create a new
party," said club founder Rudolf Battek in an interview for the daily
Denni Telegraf.
Ales Bartl/Veronika Machova
Police Break Up Skinhead Meeting
A meeting of about 500 skinheads from the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Germany and Italy was broken up by Czech police on the night of October
18. A SWAT team stopped the concert of the Czech fascist bands Konflikt
88, Vlajka and Bulldog, Slovakia's Biely odpor, the German Bootboys and
the Italian group Peggior Amico immediately after cries of Sieg heil
came from the House of Culture in Stahlavy na Plzensku. The police held
17 people suspected of disturbing the peace. Material with racist texts
was also seized. The identity of 585 more people was checked during the
day.
Madiyar Magavin/Sofia Karakeva
Concert for Marijuana Legalization
A concert promoting the legalization of marijuana was held October
17 at the ruins of the Cibulka farm. More than 200 spectators came to
celebrate the 10th anniversary of the assassination of reggae musician
Peter Tosh, who had been very active in the issue of decriminalizing
marijuana. Tosh, along with Bunny Livingston and Bob Marley, founded the
legendary reggae group the Wailers.
Many Czech musicians (such as Coltcha and Svihadlo), together with
rastafari followers, expressed their intentions to communicate Tosh's
message.
Pavel Turek/Jana Ciglerova
NEWS IN BRIEF
* The Czech Parliament approved a government amendment of the pension
law October 17. It should bring from 10 billion crowns to 15 billion
crowns into the budget next year.
The Parliament then narrowly rejected the opposition's proposed
referendum law.
* Labor Minister Jindrich Vodicka has been approved by the Civic
Democratic Party's (ODS) political assembly as a candidate for the
position of interior minister (see Carolina 260, 261). ODS Interior
Minister Jan Ruml is stepping down October 31. Vodicka should be
replaced by Stanislav Volak, an ODS Deputy.
* The case of former Communist officials accused of treason is going
to be brought back to court. Justice Minister Vlasta Parkanova filed
a complaint with the Supreme Court regarding the case.
* According to the polls taken by the Institute for Public Opinion
Research, 66 per cent of respondents trust the media. Fifty-four per
cent of respondents support the president, the lowest figure ever.
* UNESCO has provided the seven schools most affected by the summer
floods with 60,000 USD.
* Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus proposed to reserve a space in
Parliament Chamber of Deputies where journalists would be allowed to
contact politicians. Some politicians have complained about being
bothered by the media.
* There were four people murdered last week in the Liberec region in
northern Bohemia. Police investigators suspect a war between two gangs
from the former Soviet Union fighting for control over the region.
* Police confiscated 60 kg of cocaine worth 120 million crowns. The
cocaine was stacked in cans with colombian coffee.
Gabriela Podzimkova, Pedro Afanador, Jan Puncochar/Jana Ciglerova
FROM SLOVAKIA
Fear of Slovakia's Isolation Reconciles Kovac and Meciar
In an effort to catch the speedy European Union train, the two
biggest rivals on the Slovak political scene, President Michal Kovac and
Premier Vladimir Meciar, claimed a reconciliation October 17. Together
they signed a declaration in which they confirmed the lasting interest
of Slovakia to join the EU and promised to work for renewal of the EU's
confidence.
This summer, the European Commission did not recommend starting
talks with Bratislava concerning Slovak membership in the EU. The
European Parliament warned Slovakia that it will be the only country not
fulfilling the political criteria to be invited to negotiations about
membership (according to the 1993 EU Summit in Copenhagen, among
membership criteria is that a country's institutions must guarantee
democracy, the rule of law, the security of people's rights and the
respect and security of minorities).
The West emphatically requests the return of National Assemblyman
Frantisek Gaulieder (see Carolina 260), but Meciar's ruling party has
ruled out returning Gualieder's mandate. Nevertheless, in the
declaration Meciar and Kovac hope the Union will re-evaluate its
position toward Slovakia, and they expect the National Assembly will
fulfill all EU requests.
Eva Fronkova Lenka Jindrlova/Gabriela Pecic
Havel and Meciar Become Relatives
Not even the most sensation-seeking director would have made such
a bizarre combination in a script about Czech-Slovak relations - making
two such inveterate political rivals as Czech President Vaclav Havel and
Slovak Premier Vladimir Meciar become relatives. On October 18 in Nove
Mesto nad Vahom Meciar's niece, Denisa Meciarova, and a distant relative
of the Havel's wife Dagmar, Vojtech Simicek, exchanged wedding vows.
The marriage provoked interest in Czech and Slovak media, which
still did not overwhelm the wedding guests. Meciar made the wedding date
public at his recent meeting with Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus,
during which he surprised everyone by accepting an invitation to the
Czech Republic. In the past, Meciar has made a visit conditional on an
apology from the Havel for the statement he made about Meciar's
paranoia; Meciar, after finding out about the future kinship, dropped
the condition.
Jana Ciglerova/Ajla Zinhasovic
ECONOMY
Big Interest in Information Technology in Brno
INVEX - the biggest fair of information technology in the Czech
Republic (and after Hannover's CeBit the second largest in Europe) took
place in Brno October 13-17. More than 700 firms from 11 countries
presented themselves on the 45,000 square meters belonging to Brno's
Fairs and Exhibitions. The fair was accompanied by a program called Come
into the Future focused on computer games and multimedia and addressed
primarily to young visitors.
According to organizers the biggest innovation introduced at the
fair was digital versatile disk - DVD - although it had been shown in
Brno last year. Kolya, the Czech oscar-winner, was released as the first
Czech film on DVD, to promote the technology. Besides the mammoth battle
of mobile-phone providers Eurotel and Paegas, which brought new and more
powerful gadgets, visitors could test the smallest computer in the world
operating under Microsoft Windows95, the Toshiba Libretto 50CT. It is
21 cm long and 12 cm wide. The software section was traditionally
dominated by Microsoft, Novell and Lotus, which this time focused on
computer networks and workgroups - groupware. Microsoft advertised its
sale called October 32 (it will take place November 1). Visitors will be
able to buy Microsoft's newest products at a 32-per-cent discount.
Jan Kozanek/Matej Cerny
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank
(valid from October 24)
country currency
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 23.318
Belgium 100 BEF 90.279
Great Britain 1 GBP 54.102
Denmark 1 DKK 4.889
Finland 1 FIM 6.218
France 1 FRF 5.553
Ireland 1 IEP 48.459
Italy 1000 ITL 19.075
Japan 100 JPY 27.308
Canada 1 CAD 23.873
Luxemburg 100 LUF 90.279
Hungary 100 HUF 16.740
Netherlands 1 NLG 16.523
Norway 1 NOK 4.599
New Zealand 1 NZD 20.667
Poland 1 PLN 9.720
Portugal 100 PTE 18.291
Austria 1 ATS 2.644
Greece 100 GRD 11.869
Slovakia 100 SKK 97.637
Germany 1 DEM 18.615
Spain 100 ESP 22.070
Sweden 1 SEK 4.332
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.480
USA 1 USD 33.214
ECU 1 XEU 36.700
SDR 1 XDR 45.275
CULTURE
Forgotten Light Wins Czech Oscar Nomination
The Czech Film and Television Academy October 21 nominated into the
best foreign motion picture category a Vladimir Michalek's film
Forgotten Light (Zapomenute svetlo). Other nominees were the films The
Wonderful Years of Lousy Living (Bajecna leta pod psa) and An Uncertain
Report about the End of the World (Nejasna sprava o konci sveta).
The winner was chosen in a secret vote, which provoked heated
debate, because only half of the 109 academy members took part in the
vote. Among others, in the Czech Video Center last year's Oscar winner
in the category - Kolya - was shown on DVD digital videodisc.
Prokop Havel/Denisa Vitkova
Flamenco King Paco De Lucia Performs in Prague
The world's most famous exponent of rhythmic flamenco, Spanish
guitarist Paco De Lucia, performed in Prague's Lucerna Palace October
19. For the first time Prague had the chance to hear the roots of De
Lucia's style, which reach into African and gypsy music. De Lucia played
in Brno last year.
The 50-year-old guitarist, born Francisco Sanchez Gomez, came after
concerts in Germany in his European tour. He had a seven-member group,
headed by his two brothers: singer and composer Pepe De Lucia, and Ramon
De Algeciras who started the flamenco king playing guitar. A dancer,
Joaquin Grila, proved the band's style is also conducive to flamenco
dancing.
Petr Bilek Jr./Denisa Vitkova
Hamlet Celebrates Birthday
Prague's Comedy Theater (Divadlo komedie) celebrated its third
anniversary under the leadership of Michal Dockal October 17 with its
70th performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet, with David Pracharin the title
role. All previous Czech Hamlets (Radovan Lukavsky, Frantisek Nemec,
Kamil Halbich and others) attended the special performance.
Spectators will also be able to meet the prince of Denmark, in the
well known staging of Lithuanian director Eimuntas Nekrosius at the
Pilsen Theater 97 festival October 23.
Pavel Turek/Denisa Vikova
SPORT
Slovak Kucera Won IPB Czech Indoor Tennis Tournament
Slovak tennis player Karol Kucera became the surprise winner of the
IPB Czech Indoor Tournament in Ostrava October 13-19. In the semifinal
match Kucera's opponent, Goran Ivanisevic, withdrew after losing the
first set 6-3 because of an arm injury. The semifinal repeated itself in
the final match, where Kucera defeated Swedish player Magnus Norman, who
gave up the match after losing the first set 6-2 due to a leg injury.
Jiri Polak
Sparta Tops Soccer Extraleague after Nine Rounds
Sparta still leads the league, while Slavia is nine points behind
and Sigma Olomouc third. Plzen and Lazne Bohdanec are at the bottom of
the chart.
Sparta Praha defeated Opava 1-0 when Vratislav Lokvenc scored a goal
in the 88th minute of the match. Slavia's side played a tough match in
Plzen. Two new coaches had their debut in the match - Slavia's Pavel
Tobias and Petr Ulicny from Plzen. Slavia won 2-0 on Vacha's and
Asanin's shot goals.
There was a very important match in Ceske Budejovice. Another new
coach, Zdenek Prochazka, led his team against Lazne Bohdanec and won
3:0. Bohdanec has won only one match, in Plzen three weeks ago.
Results of the 9th round (October 17-19): Sparta - Opava 1 0, Plzen
- Slavia 1-2, Hradec Kralove - Dukla 0-1, Zizkov - Liberec 3-0, Teplice
- Ostrava 0-0, Jablonec - Brno 2-0, Olomouc - Drnovice 2-0, Ceske
Budejovice - Bohdanec 3-0.
Extraleague Standings
1. Sparta 9 8 1 0 21:7 25
2. Slavia 9 4 4 1 15:6 16
3. Olomouc 9 4 2 3 9:5 14
4. Ostrava 9 3 5 1 13:12 14
5. Teplice 9 3 4 2 12:8 13
6. Liberec 9 4 1 4 12:17 13
7. Brno 9 3 3 3 14:10 12
8. Zizkov 9 3 3 3 7:6 12
9. Drnovice 9 3 3 3 11:12 12
10. Jablonec 9 3 3 3 9:11 12
11. Hradec Kral. 9 3 3 3 7:10 12
12. Dukla 9 3 2 4 9:13 11
13. Opava 9 2 4 3 12:13 10
14. Ces.Budejovice 9 2 3 4 11:13 9
15. Plzen 9 2 1 6 9:13 7
16. Laz. Bohdanec 9 1 0 7 3:18 3
David Kozohorsky/David Kozohorsky
Champions Extraleague: Sparta Praha - Galatasaray Istanbul 3-0 (1-0).
Standings in the group:
1. Parma 3 2 1 0 3-0 7
2. Dortmund 3 2 0 1 5-2 6
3. Sparta 3 1 1 1 4-4 4
4. Galatasaray 3 0 0 3 0-6 0
Hockey Extraleague Standings after the 17th Round (October 21):
1. Vitkovice 26 pts., 2. Trinec 23, 3. Sparta 22, 4. Vsetin 21, 5.
Litvinov 20, 6. Zlin 19, 7. Plzen 19, 8. Pardubice 16, 9. Jihlava 15,
10. Kladno 15, 11. Slavia 14, 12. Ceske Budejovice 12, 13. Karlovy Vary
9, 14. Opava 9.
WEATHER
Once upon a time, King Typhoon was living in a faraway kingdom
behind seven mountains and seven rivers. This king had three daughters:
Stormfront, Rainshower and Inversion. All three decided to visit our
country last week. The weather was chilly, cold (5-7 degrees
Celsius/41-44 degrees Fahrenheit), with freezing temperatures at night.
And because these three daughters have not yet left, the same weather is
going to be with us for several more days. Fortunately, King Typhoon is
sitting quietly at home.
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
APOLOGY to anybody who received this issue second time. A failure
of the LISTSERV software on Friday is the that reason why we have to
re-send Carolina No. 262 once again (some subscribers received only
the header and not the body of our e-mail message). Carolina
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