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Carolina (English) No 318
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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
tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 24810987
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 318, Friday, February 5, 1999.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (January 27- February 3)
Czech Republic Receives Official Invitation from NATO
NATO General Secretary Javier Solana addressed an official letter
of invitation to Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan and presented it to
Czech NATO ambassador Karel Kovanda January 29. The letter states that
NATO member countries have ended the ratification process for Czech
membership.
According to Czech President Vaclav Havel's spokesman Ladislav
Spacek, the president was pleased with the news, although he had
expected it. Spacek also said that the Czech Republic will be able to
take part in discussions of future strategy at the NATO summit in
Washington in April.
Chief of the General Staff Jiri Sedivy said to the Czech daily MF
DNES that he feels satisfaction because of the invitation letter.
"Despite all the difficulties that the military faces, Solana's letter
confirms the quality of the armed forces," he said.
The Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary will become NATO members
when the ratification documents are submitted, most likely March 1.
Ondrej Fer/Sofia Karakeva
BIS Director's Ouster a Fiasco
Many questions remain about the recall of Karel Vulterin, director
of the Security Information Service (BIS). The government recalled
Vulterin January 27 for gravely endangering BIS.
Although the government did not specify the reasons for
Vulterin's recall any further, almost all media published reports that
Vulterin was fired because of the case of the Iraqi consul in Prague
Dzabir Salim, who at the end of 1998 fled to the West and is now in
hiding in London. The government decided to remove Vulterin on the basis
of a letter sent by an agent of the British intelligence service MI6.
Reactions to Vulterin's removal differ. Some BIS members said
Vulterin should have been recalled long ago simply because he could not
do the job, but some opposition politicians have stood by him. President
Vaclav Havel said he does not find persuasive enough the reasons given
for Vulterin's recall. Vulterin has not made any public comment.
Marketa Lajdova/Sofia Karakeva
President Havel Evaluates First Year of Last Term
President Vaclav Havel expressed satisfaction with his foreign
policy activity during a press conference February 2 on the occasion of
the first full year of his last term.
Havel said he is not satisfied, however, with his ability to
resolve domestic matters. "Last year I said that in the first place
I would like to contribute to the improvement of the overall political
climate in the country. It seems to me that in this sphere the situation
has not improved, if not worsened," said Havel to Czech daily MF DNES.
During the press conference Havel evaluated his relationship with
the present government, a relationship he said he considers much more
correct that it had been. "If some ministers are closer to me than
others, I will not talk about it, because I might harm them," he said.
Although Havel dislikes speaking about his personal life, he did
not hesitate to answer questions about his family life.
Marketa Lojdova/Sofia Karakeva
NEWS IN BRIEF
* By one vote Parliament rejected February 2 during the second
reading a Constitutional Amendment on referendums, proposed by Zdenek
Jicinsky of the Social Democrats. Although the Constitution mentions
referendum, a law on its procedure has not been passed.
* In a tragic accident near Stredokluky on the Kladno-Praha bus route
February 2 nine people lost their lives and 27 passengers were injured,
15 seriously. The police are investigating the accident, which appears
to have been caused when the bus driver inattentively ran into a truck
parked on the shoulder of the road.
* Minister Jaroslav Basta, in charge of Operation Clean Hands,
announced February 2 that his office has filed 25 criminal complaints,
although critics charge his office is investigating cases which are
already being investigated.
* Restitution conflicts between various faiths and the Social
Democrat government heated up again this week as the Catholic Church,
the Jewish Community Federation and the Ecumenical Council decided to
boycott the Commission for Church-State Relations because the Social
Democrats nominated a Communist to be a commission member and also said
the church does not have the right to have its former property
restituted because it did not have the proper legal status before 1948.
Ondrej Fer, Marketa Lojdova/Sofia Karakeva, Michael Bluhm
FROM SLOVAKIA
Meciar's Cohorts Might Wind up in Court
In the coming days the Slovak National Assembly will decide whether
to remove parliamentary immunity from former Security Information
Service boss Ivan Lexa and former Interior Minister Gustav Krajci, both
assemblymen from the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS). The
Constitutional Court is also considering whether the two have amnesty,
said Interior Minister Ladislav Pittner February 2.
Lexa is suspected of misusing his authority in connection with the
kidnapping of the son of former President Michal Kovac. Working against
Lexa is the verdict of a Vienna court that the kidnapping occurred with
the support of organs of the Slovak state.
Krajci is responsible for ruining a referendum called by Kovac. The
referendum was on three questions concerning Slovak membership in NATO,
the fourth about direct presidential election. Although the
Constitutional Court ruled the fourth question was not unconstitutional,
Krajci removed it from the referendum.
One hope for the pair is the amnesty granted them by former Premier
Vladimir Meciar during the period when he had certain presidential
powers. Current Premier Mikulas Dzurinda cancelled the amnesty, but HZDS
assemblymen appealed to the Constitutional Court. If their appeal is
rejected, there will probably be a vote to remove the pair's immunity,
and HZDS' opponents have a constitutional majority in the legislature.
Ondrej Fer/Michael Bluhm
SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF
* The alleged killer of former Minister Jan Ducky admitted to the
crime in a letter. Interior Ministry spokesman Jozef Sitar said February
1 he is 95 per cent sure the letter was written by the actual killer.
The letter also said the crime was ordered by certain people.
Ondrej Fer/Michael Bluhm
ECONOMY
Czech Crowns Falls, Czech Statistics Office Forecasts Economic Decline
The Czech Statistics Office (CSU) echoed the recent pessimistic
prognosis from the Finance Ministry in its report published February 2.
Gross domestic product growth should decrease by 0.8 per cent, the
largest decrease forecasted by any available prognosis. The CSU made
public new estimates of last year's numbers which differ from estimates
published in November. 1998 GDP decreased by 2.6 per cent in real terms,
according to the new CSU report, while the CSU's November report
estimated a 1.8-per-cent decline.
"Until the second half of 1999 we can expect only negative growth,"
said Ivan Sujan, the political advisor of the CSU chairman, to the daily
MF DNES February 3. According to him "if everything goes smoothly we'll
be above zero in the year 2000."
MF DNES emphasises the fact that while salaries and real wages are
going to rise (by 3.6 per cent), the unemployment rate may reach
a record level of 9.8 per cent by the end of 1999.
The crown weakened in the middle of week as its exchange rate
declined by more than 5 per cent in three days and the exchange rate to
the deutschmark approached last May's low of 19.20 marks to the crown.
Robin Rohrich/Milan Smid
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid February 5)
------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 37.130 CZK
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 21.042
Great Britain 1 GBP 53.944
Denmark 1 DKK 4.994
Japan 100 JPY 28.994
Canada 1 CAD 21.816
IMF 1 XDR 45.972
Hungary 100 HUF 14.936
Norway 1 NOK 4.296
New Zealand 1 NZD 18.095
Poland 1 PLN 8.916
Greece 100 GRD 11.568
Slovakia 100 SKK 87.533
Slovenia 100 SIT 19.767
Sweden 1 SEK 4.176
Switzerland 1 CHF 23.146
USA 1 USD 32.956
Exchange Rates of countries particpating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 18.984
Belgium 100 BEF 92.043
Finland 1 FIM 6.245
France 1 FRF 5.660
Ireland 1 IEP 47.145
Italy 1000 ITL 19.176
Luxemburg 100 LUF 92.043
Netherlands 1 NLG 16.849
Portugal 100 PTE 18.520
Austria 1 ATS 2.698
Spain 100 ESP 22.316
CULTURE
Director Frantisek Vlacil Died
The Czech film world went into mourning last week. World-renowned
director and honorary President of the Czech Film and Television Academy
Frantisek Vlacil died at the age of 74 January 27.
His film style earned Vlacil the title of the poet of Czech cinema.
Vlacil's career started in the studios of animation and puppetry in Brno
shortly after the Second World War. In the late 50's he moved to Prague
and shot his film debut The Glass Clouds (Sklenena oblaka) in 1958. The
Glass Clouds and Vlacil's second feature film, The Dove (Holubice), were
given a special prize at the Venice Film Festival. Vlacil became famous
thanks to his works from the second half of the 60's. Vlacil worked six
years on the film Marketa Lazarova. According to a poll of critics taken
recently, Marketa Lazarova is the best Czech film ever made. His next
films, The Valley of the Bees (Udoli vcel) and Adelheid, are highly
regarded as well.
After 1968 Vlacil was forced by the Communists to stop shooting
feature films, he made a few short documentary films. When he returned
to feature films his works did not match the quality of his best films.
Vlacil's received some satisfaction after 1989. He was the first
director awarded the Czech Lion (Cesky lev) for artistic contribution to
Czech film. He received another prize for his contribution to world
cinematography at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 1998.
Petr Kupec/Katerina Kolarova
Prague Portion of Febiofest Ends with Kristian Awards
The Prague part of international film festival Febiofest 99 closed
with a gala ceremony in the Blanik Theater January 27. At the same time
various filmmakers were awarded the Kristian from film and television
critics.
The winner for best feature film was Sekal Must Die (Je treba zabit
Sekala) from director Vladimir Michalek, selected by the Czech Film
Academy for the Oscar nomination. The second-place film was What You
Catch in the Rye (Co chytnes v zite), the debut film from director Roman
Vavra. Third prize went to The Bed (Postel) from director Oskar Reif.
In category of documentary and journalistic films the top prize
went to the document I Remember, You Remember... Do You Remember?
(Vzpominam, vzpominas... vzpominate?) from Pavel Koutecky, Martin Stekly
and Alena Mullerova. Among animated film the Miraculous Bell (Kouzelny
zvon) was the winner. The director of this film was Aurel Klimt and the
animation was drawn by Martin Velisek.
Febiofest has moved from Prague to nine other cities throughout the
Czech Republic and will move to Slovakia in the middle of February.
Petr Kupec/Katerina Kolarova
CULTURE IN BRIEF
* Director Raduz Cincera died January 28 at the age of 75. Cincera
was best known for his Kinoautomat at the 1967 Expo in Montreal
combining elements of theater and film in a groundbreaking multimedia
and interactive project.
SPORTS
Hockey Extraleague: Fight for Playoffs Culminates
The fourth quarter of the hockey extraleague has begun. The fight
for eighth place, the last spot in the playoffs, is coming to a head,
while it is almost sure that last-place Jihlava will play in
a tournament to determine its extraleague future.
After 12 games without a win, Karlovy Vary celebrated a victory
against Jihlava. It had not won since December 6, when it beat also
Jihlava.
Kladno looks better, it tied with reigning champion Vsetin after
two scoreless draws. Goalkeeper Martin Bilek's shut out opponents for
131 minutes. Kladno then defeated Slavia, which lost its hopes for
advancing to the playoffs with the injury to its captain Ruzicka.
Slavia lost another key player, goalkeeper Ladislav Blazek, who was
banned for 15 games because he abused a referee in a game in Trinec.
Opava will also be missing its goaltender. Pavel Cagas will host
for three months in Mannheim in Germany. Opava already lost its chance
to make the playoffs, and Cagas had conflicts with coach Jiri Latal.
Sparta is playing well, having lost once since the Christmas break
and closing in on the three Moravian squads leading the standings.
Sparta forward David Vyborny is dominating in the points standings.
Results of the 39th round: Opava - Plzen 1-2, Litvinov - Karlovy
Vary 4-0, Kladno - Vsetin 1-1, Zlin - Ceske Budejovice 3-3, Pardubice
- Jihlava 3-2, Trinec - Slavia Prague 5-2, Vitkovice - Sparta Prague
1-4.
Results of the 40th round: Opava - Litvinov 2-6, Zlin - Plzen 5-3,
Pardubice - Vsetin 2-2, Karlovy Vary - Jihlava 6-1, Ceske Budejovice
- Sparta Prague 1-4, Kladno - Slavia Prague 5-2, Trinec - Vitkovice 1-2.
Standings: 1. Vsetin 57 points, 2. Zlin 54, 3. Trinec 51, 4. Sparta
Prague 49, 5. Plzen 44, 6. Ceske Budejovice 40, 7. Vitkovice 40, 8.
Pardubice 40, 9. Litvinov 37, 10. Slavia Prague 35, 11. Karlovy Vary
32, 12. Kladno 31, 13. Opava 29, 14. Jihlava 19. Opava and Jihlava still
have one more match to play.
Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer
Fourth Extraleague All-Star Game: West Smashes East 13-4
The traditional Staropramen Extraleague All-Star Game took place in
Pilsen (Plzen) January 31. The game finished with the highest combined
score ever as the stars of the Bohemian clubs defeated the Moravians
13-4.
The East led after the first period 3-1, but then not even the
great goalie Roman Cechmanek could not stop the scoring avalanche, as
the middle period ended with a West advantage of 9-0. The West evened
the all-time balance of All-Star games to 2-2.
The skill competitions preceded the game. Jan Hlavac from Sparta
Prague was the fastest skater, Vsetin goalkeeper Roman Cechmanek
recorded the most saves against breakaways, Martin Richter from Karlovy
Vary had the fastest shot. However, Josef Reznicek from Plzen recorded
the most exciting result as he hit all four targets placed in the
corners of the goal in only four attempts during the shooting accuracy
competition.
Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer
Korda Wins Appeal against International Tennis Federation
The High Court in London ruled the International Tennis Federation
has no right to appeal the decision of its own independent commission to
the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne and to demand a one-year
ban for Czech tennis player Petr Korda.
Korda lost his rankings points and prize money after the decision
of the ITF's Appeals Committee on his testing positive for the forbidden
substance nandrolon at last year's Wimbledon. The decision upset the
sports world, which asked for harsher punishment. The ITF will appeal
the High Court's ruling, the case will move to a civil appeals court in
London.
Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer
Only Russians Win in Figure Skating European Championships in Prague
The figure-skating European Championships, which closed with the
traditional parade January 31, was a triumph of the Russian team. Its
members won all four competitions and got nine medals. Katerina
Berankova and Otto Dlabola's seventh place among the pairs was the best
Czech finish, as other skaters mostly finished around 20th place. After
pair winners Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov (see Carolina 317), the
other competitions were won by Alexei Yagudin (Men), Maria Butyrskaya
(Women) and Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsianikov (Dancing).
Petr Wilfer/Mirek Langer
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jaromir Jagr became the fifth European
player in NHL history to record more than 800 points in goals and
assists. He reached the landmark in a game against Montreal January 31,
when Jagr, born in Kladno, recorded four points. Jagr can move into the
all-time third place among Europeans, ahead of Sweden's Tomas Sandstrom
(825 points). However, he is not threatening Finland's Jarri Kurri yet.
Kurri leads with 1,398 points.
* Jaroslav Holik became the new coach of the Czech national under-20
hockey team. Holik is a former player and coach for Dukla Jihlava. He
replaces Vladimir Martinec and Ladislav Svozil.
* Two Czechs finished in the top 10 in the Elite category of the
cyclocross World Championships in the High Tatras in Slovakia. Radomir
Simunek finished seventh and Jiri Pospisil ninth. David Kasek finished
fourth among juniors. In the team competition, the elite team finished
third, the junior team took the silver.
* Ladislav Rygl met with success in the nordic combined World Cup
event in Chaux-Neuve, Switzerland. Tenth after the jumps, Rygl managed
to take third place during the cross-country event. He is fifth in the
World Cup overall standings.
* Jakub Suchacek became the first Czech ski jumper to fit into the
top 10 finishers in a 1999 World Cup event. He finished eighth and 10th
in two races in Willingen, Germany.
* The Czechs won three medals in the Winter Universiade in the High
Tatras in Slovakia. The women's cross country skiing relay team (Martina
Stursova, Jolana Razlova and Zuzana Kocumova) and alpine skier Tomas
Kraus in the slalom won silver medals, Karolina Sedova added one bronze
in the super-G.
Stepan Etrych/Mirek Langer
WEATHER
It froze during the week and it seemed real winter weather was on
the way. But February 1 it rained, later making for icy conditions on
the roads. Temperatures rose from the weekend's minus 15 degrees
Celsius/five degrees Fahrenheit to the February 3's seven degrees
Celsius/45 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not expect any changes. It will remain
flu weather and if scientists do not discover some effective medicine
against the flu, soon there won't be anybody left to write Carolina.
However, spring could come soon. One groundhog saw his shadow on
Groundhog Day, meaning a quick end to winter, according to American
tradition. I hope for all ill with the flu that the rodent was right.
Ondrej Fer/Mirek Langer
Czech version edited by Michael Bluhm.
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