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Carolina (English) No 363
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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 363, Friday, February 18, 2000.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (February 9 - February 16)
Czech Ministers Not Going to Meet Haider's Ministers
Top-level political contact between the Czech Republic and Austria
is neither vital nor necessary, particularly if the Austrian Government
is represented by one of Haider's Free Democrats (FPO), said Czech Prime
Minister Milos Zeman at the weekly Social Democrat press conference
February 11. At the same time he stressed that the Czech Republic is not
going to cut off all ties with its southern neighbor, and that normal
technical contacts shall go on without any limits. That statement
represented Zeman's response to the program declaration of Wolfgang
Schuessel's new Austrian Government implying a claim for compensating
Sudeten Germans now living in Austria for their forced labor after 1945
in the former Czechoslovakia. The claim was connected with Czech EU
membership.
Foreign Minister Jan Kavan last week objected to this point (see
Carolina 362). The Austrian Government then tried to reduce tension.
When addressing the Austrian Parliament February 9, Schuessel declared
his support for EU expansion and left out the part of the program
declaration about the property claims. Austrian Foreign Minister Benita
Ferrer-Waldner said Vienna did not want to condition Czech EU membership
by Sudeten German compensation.
Zeman said he appreciated Schuessel's gesture but the passages
aimed against the Czech Republic did not disappear from the Government
declaration.
Michaela Kleckova/Milan Smid
After deadline: The Austrian Government will not link the pending claims
for compensation for the forced labor during the Second World War with
abolition of the postwar Benes Decrees, said Schuessel February 16. The
Czech Foreign Ministry as well as Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav
Klaus said they appreciated the Austrian declaration. Media quotes Klaus
as saying it is necessary "to evaluate (Schuessel's Cabinet) according
to real deeds and not according to biased judgments."
Protest in front of Austrian Embassy
About 50 mostly young people gathered in front of the Austrian
Embassy in Prague February 10 to express their disapproval with the
participation of Haider's Free Democrats in the Austrian Government and
against introducing visa requirements for Russia, Belorussia and
Ukraine.
According to demonstrator Martin Saffek, a member of the group
Socialist Solidarity, the Czech Republic should break off diplomatic
relations with Austria. The demonstration lasted about 30 minutes and
passed without violent incident.
Tomas Havlin/Milan Smid
Four-Party Coalition, Impulse 99 and Thank You, Now Leave! Work Together
Representatives of the Four-Party Coalition (the Freedom Union, the
Christian Democrats, the Democratic Union and the Civic Democratic
Alliance) and civic initiatives Impulse 99 and Thank You, Now Leave!
agreed to coordinate their activities during the Senate election this
fall. "We will proceed together in the Senate elections and we plan
a united approach also in elections to the Chamber of Deputies," said
Freedom Union (US) Vice Chairman Vladimir Mlynar. Impulse 99 spokesman
Tomas Halik said the three political subjects have a similar opinion on
the bill of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and Social Democrats (CSSD)
to change the Constitution and their efforts to influence the media.
Christian Democrat (KDU-CSL) Chairman Jan Kasal said the
cooperation was discussed only in general and that no name of any
specific candidate was mentioned at all. Because senators must be at
least 40 years old, it is clear that Impulse 99 representatives have
a better chance to be on the ballot than the former November 1989
student leaders who now make up the backbone of the Thank You, Now
Leave! initiative.
That civic association said their members have agreed on their
presidential candidate. His name is to be revealed February 25 at
a demonstration on Wenceslas Square organized by the association - the
demonstration is called to protest the proposed Constitutional
amendments.
Nikoleta Alivojvodic/Milan Smid
Zeman in Lisbon
Prime Minister Milos Zeman February 14-15 visited Portugal, the
country presiding over the Council of the European Union for the first
half of the year. Zeman met Portuguese Premier Antonio Guterres. Zeman
presented Guterres the Czech position on EU expansion. Zeman pointed out
that the strategy of reforming the EU internally before expansion would
delay the Czech Republic's accession by two years, from 2003 to 2005. He
asked Portuguese legislators to support the EU expanding simultaneously
with its internal reforms.
Jan Skala/Milan Smid
TV NOVA on Internet Upsets Americans
Hollywood film companies are upset over TV NOVA's new project:
broadcasting on the Internet. Americans say the broadcasting is
a violation of international agreements on intellectual property and
copyrights.
TV NOVA General Director Vladimir Zelezny said broadcasting on the
Internet is not a problem. "On the Internet it is not broadcasting but
two-way communication. It is the same as if someone called you in Canada
by videotelephone, aimed the camera at the screen and via telephone sent
you what Nova is broadcasting. That's two-way communication - it is not
regulated by copyright or anything else," he said to the daily MF DNES.
Zelezny said Nova has the broadcast rights for the foreign films now
shown simultaneously on NOVA and the Internet.
The fact that Nova transmits broadcasts in digital form is not
against Czech laws. "If the program is broadcast unchanged, it is
possible according the law. That is of course valid only for the Czech
Republic. Broadcasting outside our territory is something completely
different," said Dagmar Hartmanova of the Authors' Protection Union.
TV NOVA might not have any international difficulties, for two
reasons. The first is the language barrier (programming is in Czech) and
the second is connected to the fact that film companies are beginning to
trust the Internet and use it for their own interests.
Veronika Hankusova/Veronika Hankusova
FROM SLOVAKIA
Slovakia Starts EU Accession Talks
The European Union Accession Negotiations with "second-wave" states
(Slovakia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Lithuania, Latvia and Malta) were launched
in Brussels February 16. The December EU summit in Helsinki decided that
negotiations on accession should be governed by the regatta principle,
i.e. any country can be accepted when it meets the prescribed unified
criteria, regardless of where the other second-wave countries stand. In
theory, Slovakia could join the EU at the same time as any of
first-wave country (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland,
Slovenia and Cyprus). However, chief Czech EU negotiator and Deputy
Foreign Minister Pavel Telicka made statements questioning whether such
a possibility was realistic: "In such a race the boats would have to be
of the same character and leave at the same time."
Pavel Korinek/Milan Smid
Hackers Claim to Have Information on Slovak Insurance Company Clients
A Slovak band of hackers calling themselves Group F claim it has
confidential information about hundreds of thousands of clients of the
Slovak Insurance Company. The company, however, said its computer system
is safe and has never been entered by hackers. Data about insured cars
in the Svidnicky region were made freely available on the Internet, but
the company says the data are old and inaccurate. According to the
Slovak daily SME, the data are inaccurate only because they were
acquired in May 1998 and do not reflect changes made since then.
Nothing is known about Group F, nor whether police are
investigating; in most cases the police investigate only after
a criminal complaint has been filed. Hackers can be imprisoned from
three years to eight years for under financial secrecy laws. The hackers
say they do not fear the police and will release more data on the
Geocities free server (www.geocities.com). The hackers can be reached by
e-mail at group_f@post.sk.
Ondrej Maly/Ondrej Maly
FROM SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF
* Slovak police finished their investigation of the fatal 1992 car
accident of Alexander Dubcek. According to conclusions published
February 14, there are no signs of foul play. Slovak policemen now agree
with their Czech colleagues, whose version of the accident is that
Dubcek's driver was driving too fast on a wet road, skidded and lost
control of the car.
Ondrej Maly/Veronika Hankusova
ECONOMY
Commerce Bank Head Resigns, State Financial Help Coming
The Government decided February 16 to give financial assistance to
the Commerce Bank (Komercni banka, KB). The assistance will involve
buying 60 billion crowns' worth of classified loans and shareholdings
for a maximum of 36 billion crowns. The package represents the largest
amount the state has ever provided to any bank. Commerce Bank Board
Chairman and General Director Jan Kollert resigned before the Cabinet
meeting.
The Cabinet was to discuss the aid package February 9, but
ministers decided to wait and requested more financial information from
the bank. At the same time bank management has had to answer questions
about losses of up to 8 billion crowns related to possibly fradulent
loans to the Austrian firm B.C.L. Trading. The auditing firm Deloitte
and Touche is performing an audit of the bank. The state is expected to
change almost the entire top management of the bank. The position of
general director has been offered to former Credit Lyonnais boss
Heinrich Sittler.
Lubos Kratochvil/Michael Bluhm
Prices Rise on Prague Stock Exchange
Prices of the leading stocks of the Prague Stock Exchange have been
rising since the beginning of the year. The PX-50 index, tracking the
50 most-traded titles, has jumped 20 per cent to 594.6 points since
January 1.
Experts attribute the rise in prices to the Government's intention
to finish the privatization and restructuring of key companies. For
instance, shares of the Commerce Bank (Komercni banka), which will be
cleansed of classified loans sold off by the state (see above), closed
at 1,143 crowns February 8, and has gained 86.6 per cent since the
beginning of the year. Share prices have also risen for other companies:
the Czech Savings Bank (Ceska sporitelna, 27.4 per cent), Czech
Radiocommunications (24 per cent), Czech Telecom (22.4 per cent), and
the Czech Energetic Company (CEZ) (32.9 per cent).
The bourse's index stopped growing February 10. Analysts said the
halt was caused the Cabinet postponing its decision on bailing out the
Commerce Bank till February 16.
Lubos Kratochvil/Denisa Vitkova
CKD to Continue Production in Bankruptcy
The Consolidation Bank promised to grant a loan of approximately
250 million crowns to the engineering firm CKD Transport Systems to
complete production of 10 railroad engines for Vietnam. The bank also
preliminarily approved a loan worth some 460 million crowns to produce
subway cars for the Prague metro. CKD bankruptcy trustee Petr Dostal
said CKD will continue producing major orders during bankruptcy.
Dostal said that within the first half of the year CKD will receive
more than 800 million crowns, which should finance CKD's standing
orders: the railroad engines for Vietnam, the subway cars for Prague and
supplying spare parts for 72 Manila streetcars.
An official offer to take over CKD's orders was submitted by Skoda
Pilsen (Plzen) February 15.
The Prague Regional Commercial Court placed CKD in bankruptcy
January 28. A few new, small claims were made by other creditors after
CKD's main creditors signed a standstill agreement in November.
Lubos Kratochvil/Denisa Vitkova
ECONOMY IN BRIEF
* After cellular-phone operator Eurotel recently introduced WAP
(Wireless Application Protocol), customers of rival operator Radiomobil
(owner of the Paegas network) can enjoy WAP services as well. Owners of
cellular phones supporting WAP can access certain internet pages,
teletext, e-mail or their bank accounts. WAP is supported mainly by more
expensive higher phones. According to Radiomobil spokeswoman Tereza
Kakosova, cheaper WAP-compatible phones should emerge by the middle of
the year and by 2001 all new cellular phones will support WAP.
Ondrej Maly/Ondrej Maly
Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid February 18)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 35.775
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 22.843
Great Britain 1 GBP 58.058
Denmark 1 DKK 4.805
Japan 100 JPY 32.734
Canada 1 CAD 24.787
IMF 1 XDR 48.425
Hungary 100 HUF 13.968
Norway 1 NOK 4.393
New Zealand 1 NZD 17.715
Poland 1 PLN 8.769
Greece 100 GRD 10.721
Slovakia 100 SKK 84.539
Slovenia 100 SIT 17.768
Sweden 1 SEK 4.184
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.307
USA 1 USD 36.013
Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 18.291
Belgium 100 BEF 88.684
Finland 1 FIM 6.017
France 1 FRF 5.454
Ireland 1 IEP 45.425
Italy 1000 ITL 18.476
Luxemburg 100 LUF 88.684
Netherlands 1 NLG 16.234
Portugal 100 PTE 17.844
Austria 1 ATS 2.600
Spain 100 ESP 21.501
CULTURE
Television Fans Vote for Favorite Stars
Awards for the ninth year of the TYTY competition were presented in
Prague's Karlin Music Theater February 12. About 77,000 readers of
Weekly Television (Tydenik Televize) magazine voted for their favorite
television celebrities and programs.
The winners:
Karel Gott - top vote-getter, best male singer
Lucie Bila - most popular female singer
Miroslav Donutil - most popular male actor
Petr Novotny - most popular entertainer
Jirina Bohdalova - most popular female actress
Valerie Zawadska and Miroslav Moravec - most popular dubbers
Radek John - most popular public-affairs program host
Pavel Zuna - most popular anchorman
Pavel Poulicek - most popular sports announcer
Marie Retkova - most popular announcer
Life at the Chateau (Zivot na zamku) - best program
Dita Eckhardtova/Zuzana Janeckova
Sting in Prague Again
Pop star Sting perfomed in Prague's Paegas Arena February 15. It
waa his second appearance in Prague, and shortly before the concert he
met with President Vaclav Havel and Havel's wife Dagmar.
Radka Kohutova/Zuzana Janeckova
SPORTS
Hasek Postpones Retirement
World-renowned hockey goalkeeper Dominik Hasek announced in Buffalo
February 11 he will prolong his career one more year. He had planned
this season to be his last and announced his intentions in July in
Prague. At the beginning of the season in October he injured his groin
and was out of action until recently.
"I did not expect I would lose more than half the season. I wanted
to play in Buffalo a whole and good year," Hasek said to the Czech daily
MF DNES. He returned between the pipes in the beginning of February and
has recorded one shutout and kept Buffalo rolling for the playoffs.
Hasek has never won a Stanley Cup.
Hasek's situation is complicated by the fact that the Sabres can
protect only one goalkeeper in this year's expansion draft. Buffalo
might prefer Martin Biron, a talented and much younger goalie. Hasek has
been the subject of trade rumors.
Darina Johanidesova/Mirek Langer
Led by Augusta, National Hockey Team Takes Silver in Sweden
The Czech national hockey team finished the Sweden Hockey Games in
second place. The tournament took place in Stockholm January 8-13.
Second place was confirmed with a win over Sweden and the same second
position belongs to the Czech team in the final standings of the Euro
Hockey Tour. Finland won both competitions.
Without coach Ivan Hlinka, who recently signed a contract with the
NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, the team played well. It defeated Russia
6-2, Canada 1-0 and Sweden 3-1. Only a lapse in the first period against
Finland led to a 1-3 loss. "We'll pay them back in the World
Championships," said forward Tomas Vlasak in a television interview.
Josef Augusta, Hlinka's former assistant, had his first taste of
the head coach position, which he will probably keep for the upcoming
World Championships. "Experienced players want to win and they can
create a team that stays together," he said for the daily MF DNES.
Two Czech players were elected to the tournament's all-star team:
goalkeeper Roman Cechmanek and center Pavel Patera.
Standings of the Sweden Hockey Games: 1. Finland 8, 2. Czech
Republic 6, 3. Canada 5, 4. Russia 2, 5. Sweden 1.
Final standings of the Euro Hockey Tour: 1. Finland 18, 2. Czech
Republic 15, 3. Russia 12, 4. Sweden 3.
David Luksu, Martin Moravec/Mirek Langer
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* Seventeen athletes will represent the Czech Republic in the indoor
track and field European Championships, which will be held in Gent,
Belgium February 25-27. Runner Ludmila Formanova and triple jumper Sarka
Kasparkova will not participate, because they are concentrating on
preparing for the Sydney Olympics and Kasparkova broke a bone in her
leg. Shot-putter Miroslav Menc and pole vaulter Adam Ptacek obtained
wild cards from the Czech Track and Field Union. Menc's two-year doping
suspension will expire four days before the championships.
* Sparta Praha finished its trip through the Czech soccer cup in the
fourth round. It lost in Plzen (a second-league team) 0-1. "It's a great
shame," captain Michal Hornak said after the game. On the contrary,
Slavia Praha defeated Celakovice 4-0 and will play against Liberec in
the quarterfinals.
* Czech figure skaters recorded no unusual successes in the European
Championships in Vienna, which finished February 12. Only the pair
Katerina Berankova - Otto Dlabola finished in the top 10, although their
ninth place is two places worse than last year. In the individual
competitions, Eva Chuda (29th) and Lukas Rakowski (25th) did not advance
into the free routines. Ice-dancing couple Katerina Kovalova and David
Szurman finished 17th in their European premiere.
David Luksu, Martin Moravec/Mirek Langer
WEATHER
Wednesday:rain-wind-low temperatures
Thursday: rain-wind-low temperatures
Friday: rain-wind-low temperatures
Saturday: rain-wind-low temperatures
Sunday: rain-wind-low temperatures
Monday: rain-wind-low temperatures
Tuesday: rain-wind-low temperatures
GOD GIVE US SPRING
Jan Vedral Jr./Zuzana Janeckova
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
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