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Carolina (English) No 321
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STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Charles University in Prague
Faculty of Social Sciences
Smetanovo nabr. 6
Q 110 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic
e-mail: CAROLINA@mbox.fsv.cuni.cz
tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 24810987
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 321, Friday, February 26, 1999.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK (February 17 - February 24)
UK and US Embassies Closed by Terrorist Threat
The British and American embassies were closed to the public
February 18 for security reasons. The threat of terrorist attack was
mentioned, but American and British diplomats did not specify the source
of the threat. The emergency security measures were most often connected
with the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan, head of the Kurdish Workers' Party,
and also with the patrol of Iraqi no-flight zones by American and
British aircraft. During the weekend armed policemen guarded the
embassies, which opened again February 22.
Similar measures were taken by the American radio stations Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which increased security in their Prague
buildings and temporarily reduced their number of employees.
Broadcasting was not affected.
Alena Smrzova/Sofia Karakeva
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem Visits Czech Republic
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan (Social Democrat) met with his
Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem February 18. After the meeting Cem
announced that Abdullah Ocalan, head of the Kurdish Workers' Party will
be tried but not by a military court. He also indicated that Turkey will
not accept any international interference in the Ocalan case. According
to the Czech daily Pravo February 19, Cem said, "The times of colonial
governments that controlled their colonies have been gone for a long
time. And if anyone considers themselves such a government, they should
look for a country other than Turkey."
Kavan said the Czech Republic has taken note of the aspirations of
the Kurd nation but at the same time rejects any terrorist action.
Cem also met with Czech President Vaclav Havel February 18. Havel,
through spokesman Ladislav Spacek, said Ocalan's trial should be as
transparent as possible, because such an approach would best help calm
the continuing Kurdish protests in Europe against Ocalan's arrest.
Pavlina Hodkova/Sofia Karakeva
Freedom Union Changes Leadership, Will Not Discuss Coalition with CSSD
Jan Ruml remains chairman of the Freedom Union (Unie svobody, US),
but among the four vice chairmen only Petr Mares was re-elected. Karel
Kuhnl was elected first vice chairman, while Jiri Lobkowicz and Vladimir
Mlynar are new faces for party leadership. The vote was taken during the
weekend in Nymburk at the congress of the smallest Parliament party (19
seats of 200).
The congress also discussed the question of with whom the party
would form a possible coalition. The party decided to deal only with
parties to the right of the political center that have at least partly
compatible programs.
Vaclav Klaus, chairman of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS),
attended the meeting as a guest and proposed to the delegates a common
future without regard for past conflicts (the Freedom Union was created
by former ODS members after ODS financing affairs and after Ruml and
Ivan Pilip in November 1997 publicly asked Klaus to resign as ODS
chairman while he was visiting Sarajevo). "It is not possible to expect
that something extraordinary will happen tomorrow, but it is
a significant step in our relations and it is necessary to continue
further," said Ruml, according to the Czech daily Lidove noviny.
Radan Dolejs/Sofia Karakeva
Police and BIS Strike against Skinhead Movement
Skinheads were planning to meet in Line, near Pilsen (Plzen)
February 20 for a Swedish neo-Nazi band's farewell concert for the
leader of the Bohemia Hammer Skins, who in April will begin serving
a prison sentence for aggravated assault. But police, together with the
Security Information Service (BIS), one day earlier arrested three
skinhead leaders of an organization connected with the international
neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour.
During the raid police seized material propagating nazism and the
movement's accounting books, which contain contributor information.
According to police representatives, the roundup might paralyze the
extremist movement for some time; the concert was cancelled.
Radan Dolejs/Sofia Karakeva
NEWS IN BRIEF
* The election to the Senate of Dagmar Lastovecka (Civic Democratic
Party, ODS), the former mayor of Brno, was upheld by a decision of the
Constitutional Court in Brno February 18. The Constitutional Court
overturned the December decision of the Supreme Court, which accepted
the complaint of the Social Democrats that the Election Act had been
broken when Lastovecka appeared in the daily Lidove noviny and on Czech
Television less than 48 hours before the election. The act prohibits
media appearances by candidates in the 48 hours preceding the elections.
* Prime Minister Milos Zeman met his Polish counterpart Jerzy Buzek
in Ostrava February 19. They agreed on the need to support Slovakia's
effort to join NATO and the European Union.
* President Vaclav Havel's political adviser Jiri Pehe is going to
leave his position as head of the Presidential Office's Political
Department May 15. He said he is leaving because of the fatigue of being
in the role of a state bureaucrat. He said he would like to return to
the ranks of independent observers who are able to react swiftly and to
comment on political events without the limits of having an office. Pehe
will stay close to Havel as an external adviser.
Alena Smrzova, Pavlina Hodkova/Milan Smid
FROM SLOVAKIA
Former SIS Boss in Kidnapping of Kovac's Son
Meciar Rejects Charges of SIS Anti-Czech Activity
Former Director of Slovak Information Agency (Slovenska informacni
sluzba, SIS) Ivan Lexa participated in the kidnapping of former
President Michal Kovac's son. This information is in the classified
report of SIS Director Vladimir Mitro, which leaked out February 18.
Mitro reports that the kidnapping of Michal Kovac Jr. in the summer
of 1995 was one of the first SIS operations under Lexa and was part of
a campaign against President Kovac. "The kidnapping was managed by SIS
Deputy Director Svetocha and supervised personally by Lexa. Lexa on the
day of the kidnapping, August 31, 1995, was in the SIS building near the
Autrian-Slovak border," said the report.
Mitro's report also contains information about SIS activities in
neighboring countries (Carolina 320). Former Slovak Premier Vladimir
Meciar rejected the reports' conclusions in an open letter to Czech
Prime Minister Milos Zeman. "I proclaim on my honor and to the best of
my conscience that neither the Government of the Slovak Republic, its
members, the Defense Council nor any other authorities worked against
the basic interests of the Czech Republic, all the more so because our
interests were identical," said the letter.
Marketa Lajdova/Jakub Jirovec
Magda Vasaryova Will Run for President
Magda Vasaryova, former actress and former Czechoslovak ambassador
to Vienna, confirmed February 18 that she is a candidate for the office
of president. Vasaryova was proposed by an independent citizen
initiative one month earlier (see Carolina 316).
"I am not a politician, I don't represent any political party.
I want to be the new face of Slovakia and a confirmation of the changes
of 1989 and 1998," said Vasaryova in the Czech daily Pravo. Vasaryova is
mainly supported by young, well-educated people and inhabitants of
larger towns and cities.
In the first direct election of the Slovak president Vasaryova will
compete against former President Michal Kovac, official candidate of the
governing coalition Rudolf Schuster and legislator Juraj Svec. The
opposition Movement for a Democratic Slovakia has not yet revealed the
name of its candidate.
Marketa Lajdova/Jakub Jirovec
First Slovak in Space
Pilot Ivan Bella, 35, is the first Slovak in space. Bella, who was
selected from 32 pilots, left February 20 with Russian and French
astronauts for the Russian Mir space station. Bella will spend nine days
there.
The idea of a Slovak space mission was born during the reign of
former Premier Vladimir Meciar, who arranged the operation with his
Russian counterpart Viktor Chernomyrdin. The space flight of the first
Slovak was planned to increase Meciar's popularity. The costs of the
flight, around 20 million USD, must now be paid by the government of the
Premier Mikulas Dzurinda.
Marketa Lajdova/Jakub Jirovec
ECONOMY
Mertlik's Report Evaluates Czech Society's Status
According to the Report on the State of Czech Society, which Deputy
Prime Minister for economic policy Pavel Mertlik presented to the
Government February 24, the Czech Republic's foreign indebtedness
exceeded the internationally accepted safety level by 3 per cent. The
safety level is considered to be 40 per cent of the gross domestic
product.
At the end of the third quarter of 1998, foreign debt was 24.4
billion USD, which means, compared to the end of 1989, a growth of 300
per cent. The Czech Republic exceeded the safety level in 1996.
One of the issues the report deals with is rating of success of
particular types of company ownership, measured by value added per
employee. Considering this fact, concerns privatized by sale to foreign
partners are much more successful than state-run companies and those
privatized to domestic owners. Companies privatized by the voucher
method show the worst results.
Pavlina Hodkova/Denisa Vitkova
Lubomir Soudek Recalled from All Posts in Skoda Pilsen
After lengthy urging from Commerce Bank (KB) and the Investment and
Postal Bank (IPB), the supervisory board of Skoda Pilsem (Plzen)
recalled Lubomir Soudek from the offices of board chairman and general
director. Soudek accepted the decision, although his company NERo still
remains the largest shareholder in Skoda.
The new general manager is Jiri Hlavica, who held the office of
first board vice chairman. Hlavica has also been entrusted with managing
the board until a fifth member will be named and a new chairman elected.
The majority in the supervisory board, which decides company strategy,
belongs to representatives of the Commerce Bank, the Investment and
Postal Bank and the National Property Fund (FNM). Analysts welcomed
Soudek's exit as well, and said it is the beginning of a new era for the
company. More changes will be necessary, because the value of Skoda is
continuing to decline.
The same day that Soudek was recalled it became known that Societe
Generale had February 5 filed a bankruptcy petition against Skoda
Pilsen. An unnamed source from the bank confirmed this for the daily
Hospodarske noviny. The economic weekly Euro published the same news
February 22. Commerce Bank said it does not support resolving the
company's situation in court, but wants to continue the revitalization
of Skoda in line with creditors' interests.
Pavlina Hodkova/Denisa Vitkova
ECONOMY IN BRIEF
* The downturn in foreign trade in January expected by economists
came true - the trade balance for the month wound up with a deficit of
2.5 billion crowns; exports were 59.8 billion crowns and imports 62.3
billion crowns. Compared to January 1998, exports declined by 8.8 per
cent and imports by 11.6 per cent.
* The Social Democrat Government of Prime Minister Milos Zeman
February 17 agreed to the request of the Prague Congress Center to issue
the bonds worth 60 billion USD. These will be used to finance the
reconstruction of the Congress Center for the annual conference of the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in September 2000.
Pavlina Hodkova/Denisa Vitkova
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid February 26)
------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 38.085 CZK
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 21.658
Great Britain 1 GBP 55.121
Denmark 1 DKK 5.105
Japan 100 JPY 28.580
Canada 1 CAD 22.965
IMF 1 XDR 46.861
Hungary 100 HUF 15.037
Norway 1 NOK 4.362
New Zealand 1 NZD 18.204
Poland 1 PLN 8.819
Greece 100 GRD 11.771
Slovakia 100 SKK 86.401
Slovenia 100 SIT 19.993
Sweden 1 SEK 4.240
Switzerland 1 CHF 23.877
USA 1 USD 34.405
Exchange Rates of countries particpating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 19.416
Belgium 100 BEF 94.138
Finland 1 FIM 6.387
France 1 FRF 5.789
Ireland 1 IEP 48.218
Italy 1000 ITL 19.612
Luxemburg 100 LUF 94.138
Netherlands 1 NLG 17.232
Portugal 100 PTE 18.942
Austria 1 ATS 2.760
Spain 100 ESP 22.823
CULTURE
New Czech Movie Return of The Idiot Enters Cinemas
The new Czech movie Return of The Idiot had its gala premiere in
Prague's Lucerna Cinema February 24. Director and writer Sasa Gedeon
found the inspiration in Dostoyevsky's Idiot. Brno theater actor Pavel
Liska plays the protagonist, Frantisek. The relationship between
Frantisek and Dostoyevsky's Myshkin is evident, but Gedeon's story takes
place in contemporary society. Tatiana Vilhelmova, Anna Geislerova and
Jiri Langmajer also act in the story about human relationships.
Exhibit Fights against New Drug Law
The experimental ensemble Pode Bal is presenting an exhibit of the
works of students and graduates of the Czech Academy of Applied Arts in
the exhibition halls of the Academy. The exhibit, entitled A Bigger
Amount of the State Drug, displays posters which look like an typical
advertisments, but the posters often contain long texts, quotations and
paraphrases through which the group tries to highlight the paradox that
the drug addict is persecuted and prosecuted for the possession of
illegal drugs while the use of legal drugs like alcohol and cigarettes
is supported by omnipresent advertisements.
Through art the exhibit wants to fight against the recent
amendments to the Penal Code that the group considers a violation of
human rights.
Ballet Dancer Stanislav Feco Awarded
Ballet soloist of the National Theater Stanislav Feco was awarded
the Ballet Flower Award 1998, arranged by Philip Morris in different
European countries for more than 20 years. The Czech artists have been
awarded for six years now. The prize for young talents, dedicted to
dancers who are in their first year in their troupes, was given to
Michal Stipa from Brno.
The Culture section was written by Klara Nedvedova/Zuzana Janeckova
SPORT
Soccer: First League Starts Spring Season
Among the top six teams of the Czech Soccer First League only
Teplice was defeated in the opening round of the second half of the
season (the 16th round overall). Sparta, Slavia, Drnovice, Olomouc and
Blsany were victorious, although Slavia nearly lost its game in Pribram
where they were losing throughout the first half 0-1. With the exception
of Teplice's defeat, there were no big suprises.
Results of the 16th round: Zizkov - Drnovice 0-1, Pribram - Slavia
1-2, Sparta - Plzen 2-0, Ostrava - Liberec 2-0, Jablonec - Karvina 1-1,
Brno - Opava 4-1, Blsany - Teplice 3-2, Olomouc - Hradec Kralove 1-0.
Standings after the 16th round:: 1. Sparta 34 points, 2.Teplice
31, 3. Drnovice 30, 4. Slavia 28, 5. Olomouc 27, 6. Blsany 26, 7.
Ostrava 22, 8. Zizkov 21, 9. Opava 20, 10. Brno 19, 11. Hradec Kralove
16, 12. Liberec 16, 13. Plzen 15, 14. Jablonec 14, 15. Pribram 13, 16.
Karvina 12.
Hockey Extraleague - Results and Standings
Results of the 43rd round: Litvinov - Trinec 4-3, Zlin - K.Vary
8-2, Vitkovice - Jihlava
5-1, Plzen - Kladno 3-1, C.Budejovice
- Pardubice 2-2, Slavia - Vsetin 2-5,
Opava - Sparta 0-4.
Results of the 44th round: Vsetin - Vitkovice 6-3, Trinec - Opava
7-0, Pardubice - Plzen
3-3, K.Vary - Slavia 4-4, Jihlava - C.Budejovice
0 - 5, Kladno - Litvinov 1-1,
Sparta - Zlin 3-4.
Results of the 45th round: Zlin - Trinec 4-1, C.Budejovice - Vsetin
2-2, Sparta - K.Vary
4-1, Vitkovice - Slavia 5-2, Opava - Kladno 4-1,
Litvinov - Pardubice 2-5,
Plzen - Jihlava 4-2.
Standings: 1. Vsetin 66 points, 2. Zlin 63, 3. Sparta 55,
4. Trinec
53, 5. Plzen 53, 6. Ceske Budejovice 46, 7. Vitkovice 46, 8.
Pardubice
46, 9. Litvinov 41, 10. Slavia 40, 11. Karlovy Vary 34, 12.
Opava 33, 13. Kladno
32, 14. Jihlava 20.
Bronze Medal for Neumannova at the World Championships
Katerina Neumannova won the bronze medal in the 5km classic
cross-country event at the Nordic Skiing World Championships that
started February 19 in Ramsau, Austria. She finished 18 seconds behind
winner Bente Martinsen of Norway. Second-best was Russian Olga Danilova.
Two days earlier Neumannova gave up in the 15km freestyle cross-country
event because of her total exhaustion in the blizzard.
The Czech skiing team has not won any other medals so far. Milan
Kucera finished 10th in the Nordic combined event.
WEATHER
To be brief: it's ugly outside. However, that will not suffice for
the weather section. Well, the snow started to melt here in the lowlands
(and the fair is going to start February 27 in Prague). In my opinion,
there must be a wild party in Heaven, because something is permanently
dropping from the sky. At least someone is having fun. We mortals in the
lowlands try to keep smiling in streets full of slush (the thermometer
shows temperatures above zero) and people who live in the highlands are
not laughing in freezing weather with avalanches all about. However, we
are not hanging our heads, because we still believe that spring is
coming soon. We believe it in spite of the fact that one of my
colleagues offended the messenger of spring - the groundhog - in
Carolina recently (see Carolina 318).
Marketa Lajdova/Katerina Kolarova
English version edited by Michael Bluhm
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