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Carolina (English) No 385
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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 ISSN 121-5040
tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 22112219
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 385, Friday, August 11, 2000.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS (July 26 - August 9)
Senate Rejects Amendments to Czech National Bank Act
By a majority of two votes (with 26 votes against) Czech senators
rejected controversial amendments to the Czech National Bank Act and
returned it to the Chamber of Deputies. The rejection of the amendments
was made possible by the exit of all the Civic Democratic Party's (ODS)
senators during the voting. The Senate refused to discuss or change the
text of the amendments. The most controversial issue pertains to setting
the main goal of the Czech National Bank (CNB), which would no longer be
currency stability, as laid down in the Constitution, but rather price
stability (see Carolina 384).
European Commission ambassador to Prague Ramiro Cibrian criticized
the amendments also because of the new requirement to submit the bank's
operational budget for approval to Parliament and because of requirement
to consult bank inflation targets and currency policy with the
government.
Regional and Senate Election Date Set
Sunday, November 12 will be the date of the first elections into
new regional assemblies established by the act changing the regional
administration of the Czech Republic this year by dividing the country
into 14 regional districts (See Carolina 367). The election date was
declared by President Vaclav Havel August 1.
The regional elections shall take place simultaneously with Senate
elections, in which one-third of the upper house's seats will be
contested. The second round of Senate elections seven days later will
decide any races in which a candidate could not win a majority of votes
in the first round.
The regional elections November 12 will last only one day and will
elect about 675 deputies in 13 regional assemblies. The 14th region of
Prague is going to vote on its regional legislature in 2002 because the
region is still temporarily under a different electoral act.
Robin Cook Supports European Integration
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who visited the Czech
Republic July 26, declared his support for aspiring members of the
European Union (EU) and said the EU should be realistic and demand new
applicants to fulfill all requirements for membership before they join.
Cook discussed issues in Czech-British relations with his Czech
counterpart Jan Kavan and he also met Czech President Vaclav Havel and
Prime Minister Milos Zeman during his one-day trip to Prague.
According to the Czech Foreign Minister Kavan, there are no major
problems in relations between the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.
"There is for sure no immediate threat of introducing visas for Czech
citizens," said Kavan, according to the daily Pravo, when the problem of
the Czech Romany exodus to Britain was mentioned.
International Romany Conference in Prague
The Fifth International Roma Union (IRU) congress took place July
26-27 in Prague, in the former Czechoslovak Federal Assembly building,
the present headquarters of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. About
100 delegates from nearly 40 countries attended the congress, which
declared the right of the Roma to be acknowledged as a nation. The
congress elected the Czech Roma activist, lawyer Emil Scuka, as new IRU
president.
Czech Politicians Enjoy Summer Holiday
Senate Chairwoman Libuse Benesova was the highest state
representative in the country in the beginning of August after other top
politicians took their summer holiday trips. Prime Minister Milos Zeman
announced he was going to spend his holiday at his country house in the
Czech Highlands (Ceska Vysocina), his office will be run by Deputy Prime
Minister Pavel Rychetsky in his absence. Chamber of Deputies Chairman
Vaclav Klaus said he would travel to Mallorca.
President Vaclav Havel departed August 2 to Portugal for
a two-week holiday stay in his villa. He traveled on a charter flight
organized by the Cedok travel agency. Havel's wife Dagmar departed for
Portugal a week before her spouse, using a flight of the Fisher travel
agency.
NEWS IN BRIEF
* A London organization calling itself the Committee for Preserving
Jewish Cemeteries in Europe filed a complaint with the European Court of
Human Rights in the case the construction work on the medieval Jewish
burial site in Prague's Vladislavova Street, said August 3 Simona
Maskova, a lawyer representing the organization. The committee is asking
for a halt to construction of underground parking garages on the site of
the former Jewish cemetery, abolished in 1478 and where many other
buildings have been erected since that time (see Carolina 365, 366).
* Czech media criticized the police for not intervening in the
five-day techno party in the fields near the village of Lipnice in the
Ceske Budejovice region July 29-August 2. The party, with about 5,000
participants, was not approved by local authorities and took place on
private property - the owner says he is going to sue the organizers of
the event. Most of the partygoers came from abroad and some of them
drove to Prague and camped several days in the parking lot in front of
the Strahov student dormitories.
* Management of the refugee camp in Cerveny Ujezd in the Teplice
region imposed a quarantine on the camp because of an outbreak of
hepatitis E. About 66 foreigner left the camp and have been searched by
police. The closing of the camp due to the quarantine led to unrest
among refugees and the police had to be called to restore order. The
quarantine should last till September.
* An L-29 Delfin training fighter from the Czech Army training center
in Pardubice crashed August 1 in the nearby town of Chrudim. Pilot Jan
Mallo, a colonel on the General Staff and the commander responsible for
flight training, did not survive. The cause of the crash is still not
clear, the army temporarily stopped training flights in L-29 planes.
* The Greek Coast Guard July 26 shot a hijacker who had kidnapped
a yacht rented by a Swiss family and wanted to travel to Morocco. The
hijacker was identified as Czech citizen Frantisek Vesely, 38, from
Liberec. Vesely did not return from a business trip to Paris in the
spring and had embezzled money from his employer, the company Textilana
Liberec.
FROM SLOVAKIA
Slovakia to Become OECD's 30th Member
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
decided July 28 to invite Slovakia to become the organization's 30th
member country. Slovakia should sign the membership agreement in
September and in October the Slovak National Assembly should ratify the
agreement.
Slovakia applied for membership in 1994, but talks were halted
because of Western countries' objections to former Premier Vladimir
Meciar. Because of France, Slovakia's invitation came one month later
than expected, to allow Slovakia to accept EU legislation concerning
audiovisual works. While the US, as the OECD's most influential member,
favors the most liberal market possible in this area, the EU, led by
France, wants at least half of all imported television programs to be of
European origin. In the end Slovakia accepted a compromise declaration
saying it agrees with the liberal position of the OECD but will handle
this area in accord with EU policy.
The Slovak crown went up after the official invitation, rising by
half a crown against the euro. The most significant consequence of
membership should be the improvement of the country in the eyes of
investors and the ability to take foreign loans at lower interest rates.
President Accepts Petition for Election Referendum
President Rudolf Schuster August 8 received a petition to call
a referendum on whether to hold early elections. Petition Committee
speaker Dusan Jariabek presented the petition to Schuster at the
sanatorium in Igls, Austria, where Schuster is recovering from his
recent surgery.
The petition was initiated by the Movement for a Democratic
Slovakia (HZDS) and the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS)
and they submitted almost 700,000 signatures to the petition. Schuster
has said he would hold the referendum, but a court will now decide
whether the question is constitutional. The president has 30 days to
decide to hold the referendum and 90 days to call it. The National
Assembly could still decide to ignore the results of the referendum.
Although some opinion polls indicate the referendum might wind up
being up invalid because voter turnout might be less than the required
50 per cent of the electorate. Meciar said recently he believes 50 per
cent of the voting public will come out and that the legislature will
respect the results of the plebiscite.
ECONOMY
Conflicts Continue over IPB Holdings
Former shareholders and partners of the Investment and Postal Bank
(Investicni a postovni banka, IPB) are calling into question the rights
to former IPB holdings of new IPB owner the Czechoslovak Trade Bank
(Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka, CSOB). One conflict that could end in
court is over the IPB Insurance Company, the country's third-largest
insurance provider with a 9.6-per-cent share of the market.
CSOB speaker Jan Stolar said the bank owns 65 per cent of the
insurance company, but the Domeana company has its own claim to control.
Domeana is controlled by GES Holding, which also owns the country's
second private television station, TV Prima.
Sources say CSOB has documents proving all of Domeana's assets were
under IPB control and Domeana could dispose of its assets only with bank
approval. Domeana says there were formal flaws in CSOB's takeover of
IPB. Ownership of the insurance company is evidently linked with various
option contracts, which, say CSOB Director Vladimir Stanura, were
frequently used in IPB to make ownership structures less transparent.
ECONOMY IN BRIEF
* The daily MF DNES reported that the first of the year was very
successful for leading Czech companies. The Czech Statistics Office says
industrial production was up 5 per cent for the period and estimates GDP
growth at about 3 per cent.
* The government at its July 26 Cabinet meeting approved Czech
Airlines (CSA) joining the Sky Team alliance, led by Air France and
Delta Airlines. The state will keep its controlling share of CSA until
at least 2004, when the state guarantee for the purchase of new Boeings
and Airbuses expires.
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid August 11)
----------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 35.280
country currency CZK
----------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 22.607
Great Britain 1 GBP 58.537
Denmark 1 DKK 4.730
Japan 100 JPY 36.195
Canada 1 CAD 26.324
IMF 1 XDR 51.036
Hungary 100 HUF 13.530
Norway 1 NOK 4.353
New Zealand 1 NZD 17.614
Poland 1 PLN 8.949
Greece 100 GRD 10.465
Slovakia 100 SKK 82.668
Slovenia 100 SIT 16.916
Sweden 1 SEK 4.232
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.831
USA 1 USD 39.842
Exchange Rates of countries paticipating in the euro (converted from the
euro rate)
Germany 1 DEM 18.038
Belgium 100 BEF 87.457
Finland 1 FIM 5.934
France 1 FRF 5.378
Ireland 1 IEP 44.796
Italy 1000 ITL 18.221
Luxemburg 100 LUF 87.457
Netherlands 1 NLG 16.009
Portugal 100 PTE 17.598
Austria 1 ATS 2.564
Spain 100 ESP 21.204
CULTURE
Summer Film School in Uherske Hradiste Attracts 1,700 Film Lovers
The 26th Summer Film School took place July 21-30 in Uherske
Hradiste. The program for young filmgoers presented four main section
- Film and Clowns, Film and Mystification, Chilean film and Belgium film
- and was attended by about 1,700 visitors, mainly from the Czech
Republic and Slovakia.
About 460 movies - 300 documentaries and animated films and 160
feature films - were presented on six screens. The organizer of the
festival, the Association of the Czech Film Clubs (ACFK), said it is not
sure where the next Summer Film School will take place, because the
contract with the town of Uherske Hradiste has expired and some people
from the ACFK would like to change the image and location of the
festival.
Simon Dominik, Martin Rusek
Boskovice Festival Helps Rebuild Old Jewish District
A festival with a multi-genre program of alternative culture
took place July 13-16 in Boskovice. The program of the Boskovice
festival, in its eighth year, attracts young people looking for an
alternative to mainstream culture. Two main concerts put together bands
like Dog Soldiers (Psi vojaci), MChBand, Laura and Her Tigers (Laura
a jeji tygri), Finally Home (Uz jsme doma) and multi-instrumentalist Iva
Bittova.
Since 1993 the festival's revenue has been used to rebuild an
old Jewish district in Boskovice. Although income from the festival is
low, its existence brought the rebuilding to the public's attention and
has contributed to the salvage of small houses in the narrow streets of
the Jewish town of Boskovice.
Lenka Nejezchlebova
CULTURE IN BRIEF
* Design and Architecture - Stuttgart, Barcelona, Brno is the name of
an exhibit in Prague's National Technical Museum presenting the works of
famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of the leaders of the
Bauhaus school between the world wars. Besides many drafts, sketches and
documents, the exhibit displays models of three key works: the housing
project in Weissenhof, the German pavilion for the World's Fair in
Barcelona and the Tugendhat villa in Brno. The exhibit, which has been
in Brussels and Brno, will be open in Prague till October 15
* The Summer Shakespeare Festivities have been underway at the Prague
Castle since July 1. The program consists of several open-air
performances of Taming the Shrew in Czech-Slovak casting. The British
ensemble A&BC Theatre Company performed The Tempest in English here
three times from July 31-August 1. Japanese actor Noriyuki Sawa will
present the tragedy Macbeth as a one-man-show. The Tempest - in Czech
- and As You Like It will be on the program at the Prague Castle till
September 9.
Tereza Tesarikova
SPORTS
Sparta Hot, Drnovice Cold at Start of Soccer League
Czech players entered the new season of the soccer league in
a summer month, but in rainy and cloudy weather. The question is the
same as at the end of last season: Who can beat Sparta? The reigning
champion defeated Pribram and won the maximum three points also in Brno.
Liberec and Ostrava began the season excellently. Liberec's
Argentinian forward Lazzaro Liuni scored five goals in two games. New
Slovak players decorate Ostrava's play (Slovakia was a source of new
players for many Czech teams this summer), its offensive power relies on
an odd couple: 18-year-old Milan Baros and Petr Samec, who is twice
Baros' age.
Drnovice, a UEFA Cup participator, is in trouble. It lost both
games played in its own stadium and the club was hit with a bankruptcy
petition.
Slavia made the most expensive transfer, paying 20 million crowns
for Brno forward Petr Svancara. Sparta paid 1 million crowns less to
Drnovice for Olympic team defender Zdenek Grygera. Marek Kincl, who came
from Viktoria Zizkov, should replace top scorer Vratislav Lokvenc in
Sparta. Lokvenc and Sparta teammate Petr Gabriel moved from Sparta to
Germany's 1.FC Kaiserslautern.
Other interesting transfers: Miroslav Baranek from Sparta Praha to
1.FC Cologne (Germany) Marek Jankulovski from Ostrava to SSC Naples
(Italy) Pavel Horvath from Slavia Praha to Sporting Lisbon (Portugal)
Marek Heinz from Olomouc to Hamburger SV (Germany) Radim Necas from
Jablonec to Slavia Praha Darko Suskavcevic from Vojvodina Novi Sad
(Slovenia) to Slavia Praha Lumir Sedlacek from Opava to Slavia Praha
Luis Fabio Gomes (Brazil) from Trnava (Slovakia) to Drnovice Marek
Ujlaky (Slovakia) from Trnava to Drnovice Kamil Susko (Slovakia) from
Trnava to Ostrava Marek Spilar (Slovakia) from Kosice (Slovakia) to
Ostrava Peter Nemeth (Slovakia) from Inter Bratislava (Slovakia) to
Ostrava Pavel Hapal from Sparta Praha to Olomouc
New coaches: Petr Rada in Teplice, Milan Boksa in Ostrava, Jaroslav
Hrebik in Jablonec, Jindrich Dejmal in Ceske Budejovice, Lubos Urban in
Plzen.
Results: 1st round: Sparta Praha - Pribram 3-0, Stare Mesto
- Slavia Praha 1-1, Teplice - Olomouc 0-0, Drnovice - Blsany 1-3,
Bohemians Praha - Jablonec 1-1, Ostrava - Brno 2-1, Liberec - Zizkov
4-2, Plzen - Ceske Budejovice 2-2.
2nd round: Brno - Sparta Praha 1-2, Slavia Praha - Plzen 2-1,
Jablonec - Liberec 1-3, Zizkov - Ostrava 1-2, Blsany - Olomouc 0-0,
Drnovice - Stare Mesto 0-2, Ceske Budejovice - Bohemians Praha 0-1,
Pribram - Teplice 0-1.
Standings: 1. Sparta Praha 6, 2. Liberec 6, 3. Ostrava 6, 4.-5.
Stare Mesto and Blsany 4, 6. Teplice 4, 7. Bohemians Praha 4, 8. Slavia
Praha 4, 9. Olomouc 2, 10. Plzen 1, 11. Ceske Budejovice 1 12. Jablonec
1, 13. Brno 0, 14. Zizkov 0, 15. Drnovice 0, 16. Pribram 0.
Soccer's Sparta One Step from Champions League
After defeating Zimbru Chisinau, Moldova's champion, by a score of
1-0, Sparta will play to advance to the UEFA Champions League in the
rematch August 23. The only goal of the game was scored by Josef Obajdin
after an accurate center by Tomas Rosicky in the 61st minute.
Sparta had to deal with its opponent and the tropical weather (the
temperature was about 43 degrees Celsius/110 degrees Fahrenheit).
Goalkeeper Tomas Postulka replaced injured Jaromir Blazek and at the end
of the game he saved a volley by Arkhirev.
After Deadline:
UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round: Shakhtor Doneck (Ukraine)
- Slavia Praha 0-1. Goal scored by Ivo Ulich in the 88th minute.
UEFA Cup qualifying round: Drnovice - Buducnost Banovici (Bosnia) 3-0.
Olomouc Loses Two-Goal Lead in Tie with Udine
Olomouc seemed prepared to enter the UEFA Cup in the Intertoto Cup
final August 8, as it led 2-0 over Udine Calcio. However, Udine managed
to lower the lead before the break and finally tied the score. The Czech
team has only a small chance in the rematch, scheduled for August 22.
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* Michal Vabrousek won the leight-weight single-scull race in the
Rowing World Championships.
* Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jaromir Jagr won the Golden Stick poll
as the best Czech hockey player. Jagr has won the poll four times
before.
Sports by Martin Moravec
WEATHER
The past two weeks continued the miserable trend of July - clouds
and unseasonably cool weather. The past few days, however, have seen
warming and signs that there might be some summer left.
Czech version edited by Milan Smid. Translation by Michael Bluhm, Mirek
Langer (Sports) and Milan Smid.
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
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