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Carolina (English) No 371
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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 371, Friday, April 14, 2000.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (April 5 - April 12)
Deputies Pass Agreement of Division of Former Federal Property
The conflict with Slovakia concerning the division of the property
of the former Czechoslovakia has ended. The Czech Chamber of Deputies
April 6 passed the agreement on the final division signed last November
by Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Slovak Premier Mikulas Dzurinda.
The document has yet to be passed in the Senate and signed by the
president.
The Czech Republic proclaimed in the agreement it would give up its
claim against Slovakia for 25.8 billion crowns (claimed by the Czech
National Bank against the National Bank of Slovakia) and will hand over
4.5 tons of gold coins that had been held because of the claim. The
Slovaks will then pay the symbolic price of one crown and will transfer
their share in the Czech Commerce Bank (Komercni banka). The Slovak
National Property Fund will receive shares of the Slovak General Loan
Bank (Vseobecna uverova banka). Slovakia will lose about 2 billion Czech
crowns in the transfer (see Carolina 354).
Jakub Tronicek/Veronika Hankusova, Ondrej Maly
Kohinoor Miners Continue Underground Strike
Miners from the brown-coal Kohinoor mine in Marianske Radcice in
the Most region continue the underground strike begun March 31. That
day, 28 miners refused to return to the surface and were joined by all
employees of the mine except management and company officers. The miners
want the owner, the Most Coal Company (Mostecka uhelna spolecnost), to
start negotiations on the sale of the mine and want to end the strike
when a final agreement will be signed.
Deputy Prime Minister and Labor Minister Vladimir Spidla and Health
Minister Bohumil Fiser talked to the striking miners April 10, but
refused to comment on the talks. The spouses of the striking miners
presented a letter to the County Office Executive Petr Weiss and County
Labor Office Director Jana Mejcova, requesting the government to deal
with the problems of the miners. The government, however, refused,
saying the matter is the problem of a private company.
The only company seriously considering buying the Kohinoor mine is
SHD-Peel, owned by mine employee Ladislav Pleticha. However, SHD-Peel
has raised concerns because of its lack of capital and lack of
experience in the business. It is also said the company only wants to
get access to some of the 600 million crowns the government promised to
provide for the de-activation of the mine. Pleticha categorically denies
the speculation and says his company can return the mine to
profitability.
Jakub Trnka/Ondrej Maly
Deputies Cannot Interfere with Decisions of Local Authorities
The Chamber of Deputies had no right to annul the decision of local
authorities of Nestemice (a district of Usti nad Labem), according to an
April 5 finding of the Constitutional Court. Deputies banned the
building of a wall in Maticni Street which was to divide the public
apartment housing inhabited mostly by Romanies from other houses
inhabited mostly by the whites.
The Constitutional Court April 5 proclaimed the legal provision
allowing Parliament to intervene was a violation of a Constitution and
abolished it. Until now, the Chamber of Deputies (as successor to the
Czech National Council extant in the former Czechoslovakia) could
interfere with decisions of local authorities. The question of the fence
in Maticni Street was discussed among the judges April 12. The court's
decision has no influence on the case and can be considered only as
a precedent. The wall in Maticni Street was dismantled in November and
the Usti nad Labem City Hall was given 10 million crowns by the to
purchase the houses of Maticni residents who initiated the creation of
the wall.
Martin Rusek/Veronika Hankusova, Ondrej Maly
New Vice Chairpersons for Social Democrats
The Social Democrats' (CSSD) Central Executive Committee elected at
its April 9 session in Hradec Kralove two new vice chairpersons: Jitka
Kupcova, 48, a lawyer from Southern Bohemia, and Stanislav Gross, 30,
the newly appointed interior minister.
While Gross replaced Zdenek Skromach, who in a quid pro quo filled
Gross' former position as chairman of the party's Parliamentary Club,
Kupcova succeeds party apostate Petra Buzkova, who announced her
resignation already in January in connection with her disapproval of
amendments to the Opposition Contract between the Social Democrats
(CSSD) and the Civic Democratic Party (ODS, see Carolina 360).
In his address to party officials, party Chairman and Prime
Minister Milos Zeman complimented the work of his minority Cabinet,
which has - according to Zeman - successfully realized 60 per cent of
its program declaration. To show appreciation for the favorable
conclusion of the court case over ownership of party headquarters,
former Finance Minister Ivo Svoboda and his advisor Barbora Snopkova,
both accused of fraud in a separate matter, were presented awards by
Zeman.
Deputy Michal Kraus made the biggest splash at the meeting with his
criticism of Zeman; Kraus printed the speech and later distributed it
among journalists. Kraus primarily criticized Zeman's leadership style,
his use of profanity and insults.
Lenka Ludvikova/Milan Smid
Amnesty International and CIA Criticize Czech Human Rights Violations
According to reports from Amnesty International and the CIA, racial
violence and trade with prostitutes are the most aggravated cases of
human rights violations and official indifference to them in the Czech
Republic.
In its regular report Concerns in Europe, July-December 1999,
Amnesty International criticized the lax, if not racist, approach of the
police and the state to violence against Romanies. The report is
available on the Publication Index at www.amnesty.org.
The CIA indicated in its report the Czech Republic is one of the
countries from which women are smuggled to the US and forced into
prostitution. The Czech police spokesperson cast doubt on the report and
said it was not credible, because the police does not have any
information about such criminal activity.
Marek Uhlir/Darina Johanidesova
NEWS IN BRIEF
* Former Czech Television General Director Jakub Puchalsky started
his new job April 1. He became editor of the political section of the
weekly Sunday News (Nedelni noviny) and assistant editor-in-chief. He
resigned his post at Czech Television in January after he lost the
support of the Czech Television Council.
David Mirejovsky/Darina Johanidesova
FROM SLOVAKIA
Sixth Country in Two Years Slaps Visas on Slovaks
The Kingdom of Belgium April 6 decided to introduce a temporary
visa requirement for Slovak citizens, valid from April 13. The reason is
the increased number of Slovak applicants for asylum, most of whom are
Romanies. Belgian offices recorded 54 applications in January, 70 in
February, 191 in March and 51 in the first days of April. Belgian
Interior Minister Antoin Bequesnes said the visa requirement will be
cancelled after a sustained decline in applications.
Juraj Hrabko, general director of the Human Rights and Minorities
Section of the Government Office, reacted by resigning from his
position. Bela Bugar, chairman of the Slovak Hungarian Coalition (SMK),
which nominated Hrabko for the position, said the problem lies in the
EU's immigration policy. Asylum applicants take advantage of liberal
asylum laws in Western countries, where they are entitled to receive
relatively generous state support while they wait for their applications
to be accepted or rejected (applicants in Belgium receive about 30,000
CZK per month). Slovak Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan said "the
government is doing what it can" but could not resolve problems with
Romanies after 18 months in office.
The new series of visa requirements for Slovakia started in 1998,
when Great Britain and then Ireland instituted the measure. Last year,
Finland, Norway and Denmark followed suit. Finland and Norway cancelled
the requirement after four months but, one month later, Norway
re-introduced the requirement. This year, Finland introduced six-months
visas and Belgium changed their asylum strategy, reducing the waiting
period for processing an application from 90 days to 30 days; Belgium
has also begun deporting Slovak Romanies.
Andrea Slovakova/Daniela Vrbova
FROM SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF
* Opposition political parties April 11 proposed a vote of no
confidence in the government of Premier Mikulas Dzurinda. The opposition
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) and the ultra-nationalist
Slovak National Party (SNS) said the reasons for calling the vote are
increasing unemployment, the weakening of the Slovak crown, disputes in
the governing coalition and the low number of bills proposed by the
Cabinet. Coalition politicians call the proposed vote a "theatrical
gesture." The vote should be taken April 13 and has virtually no chance
to succeed, because a simple majority in the 150-seat Slovak National
Assembly would be necessary and the opposition has 56 seats.
Andrea Slovakova/Daniela Vrbova
ECONOMY
Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid April 14)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 36.490
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 22.806
Great Britain 1 GBP 60.580
Denmark 1 DKK 4.897
Japan 100 JPY 36.022
Canada 1 CAD 26.059
IMF 1 XDR 51.185
Hungary 100 HUF 14.137
Norway 1 NOK 4.472
New Zealand 1 NZD 19.012
Poland 1 PLN 9.152
Greece 100 GRD 10.890
Slovakia 100 SKK 87.859
Slovenia 100 SIT 17.823
Sweden 1 SEK 4.399
Switzerland 1 CHF 23.150
USA 1 USD 38.112
Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 18.657
Belgium 100 BEF 90.456
Finland 1 FIM 6.137
France 1 FRF 5.563
Ireland 1 IEP 46.333
Italy 1000 ITL 18.846
Luxemburg 100 LUF 90.456
Netherlands 1 NLG 16.558
Portugal 100 PTE 18.201
Austria 1 ATS 2.652
Spain 100 ESP 21.931
CULTURE
Prague Writers' Festival 2000 Dedicated to Jaroslav Seifert
The 10th annual Prague Writers' Festival opened April 9. The
festival features readings, debates and autograph sessions with writers
William Styron, Susan Sontag, Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan and Josef
Skvorecky. Using the motto "The most beautiful of all gods is love,"
festival organizers decided to dedicate this year's festival to Czech
poet Jaroslav Seifert, who would have celebrated his 99th birthday this
year and is the only Czech to win the Nobel Prize for Literature
(1984). Seifert's poetry was on the program on the festival's opening
day in the Viola Theater.
Organizers reserve each festival day for one literary theme, with
this year's specialities including contemporary American, British,
Canadian and Greek literature. The Czech Republic will be represented by
Michal Ajvaz, Petr Borkovec and Odillo Stradicky. In addition, Israeli
writer Aharon Appelfeld will present his book Delusions, and Chinese
poet Bei Dao, now residing in the US, will read from his work.
Festival sponsor the British daily The Guardian organized a debate
April 10 called Searching for Liberal Europe, in which Guardian editor
Alan Rusbridger and its journalists Hugo Young, Jonathan Freedland or
John Vidal took part.
The festival's events are being held in Studio Ypsilon and The
Globe Bookstore and are broadcast live on the Internet at
www.pwf.globalone.cz. The Prague Writers' Festival runs till April 15.
Pavel Novotny/Denisa Vitkova
Loners Come to Cinema
As part of the Pilsen (Plzen) film festival The Finale, the
writer-director tandem of Petr Zelenka-David Ondricek presented their
new film Loners (Samotari). Both young filmmakers tend toward the
current trend in "independent" European film rather than the style of
the legendary Czechoslovak New Wave of the 1960's, Ondricek in his debut
film Whisper (Septej), Zelenka as the writer and director of his debut
Buttoners (Knoflikari). Loners is in the same mold: the patchwork story
of seven young people unable to build sincere, lasting relationships,
could be set in any metropolis. The film stars professional and amateur
actors, and is accompanied by the music of Jan P. Muchow. The lead roles
are played by Jitka Schneiderova, Ivan Trojan, Labina Mitevska, Jiri
Machacek, Mikulas Kren, Tatiana Vilhelmova and Hana Maciuchova.
The Finale festival runs in four theaters, and all 19 films made in
the Czech Republic last year are being shown. The festival's competition
ends April 14 with the announcement of the festival award-winners, while
the weekend will be devoted to 10 films from French director Bertrand
Blier.
Jaroslav Sauer/Denisa Vitkova
Alfred Radok Prizes Awarded
The Klicpera Theater (Klicperovo divadlo) in Hradec Kralove April
9 hosted the ceremony where the Alfred Radok Prizes were awarded for the
best theater performances of 1999. Fifty-three theater critics voted in
a poll organized by the magazine World and Theater (Svet a divadlo).
The main prize, the golden laurel, was awarded for the fourth time
to director Jan Antonin Pitinsky. He won this year's prize for his
staging of Thomas Bernhard's The Thespian in Prague's Theater on the
Balustrade (Divadlo na zabradli). The other winners received ceramics
eggs made by Ales Lamer. The Alfred Radok Prize was awarded to:
Theater of the Year - Klicpera Theater (Klicperovo divadlo),
Best Female Actor - Pavla Tomicova (Marysa - Klicpera Theater)
Best Male Actor - Martin Huba (Bruscon in The Thespian - Theater on
the Balustrade)
Best Music - Pavel Sykora (Marysa - Klicpera Theater)
Best Set - Daniel Dvorak (the opera Bubu from Montparnasse - the
Prague State Opera).
A secret ballot decided on a monetary awards for the best new
plays. First prize was not awarded, and second and third prizes were
each split between a Czech and a Slovak; second prize to Jozef Gombar
(Slovak) and Martin Hortoscak, third prize to Vladimir Mores (Slovak)
and Miroslav Oscatko.
Alzbeta Trousilova/Milan Smid
SPORTS
Czech Tennis Players Lead Americans Briefly, But Lose
The Czech tennis players met the American "Dream Team" in the Davis
Cup quarterfinals in Los Angeles April 7-9, and the underdog Czechs
almost shocked the world. They won the first match and then led 2-1
after doubles, but in the end they lost 2-3.
Jiri Novak came up with the performance of his life and hammered
Pete Sampras 7-6, 6-3 and 6-2. The United States then leveled the score
after Slava Dosedel lost to Andre Agassi. The doubles match April 8
again saw fortune smile on the Czechs as Novak and David Rikl defeated
the world's top team of Alex O'Brien and Jared Palmer. The Czechs were
just short of a miracle: they had to win one of the April 9 singles
matches. Novak could not repeat perfection and succumbed to Agassi 3-6,
3-6, 1-6. Dosedel was not good enough for Sampras (4-6, 4-6, 6-7).
"Agassi and Sampras are the greatest tennis players ever and we
forced them to use all their strength. No other team in the world could
have played better here," said Czech team captain Jan Kukal.
Jaroslav Sauer/Mirek Langer
Hockey Extraleague: Sparta Takes Two Steps toward Title
After the first two games of the best-of-five hockey extraleague
finals, Vsetin fans are nervous, Sparta's relaxed and the rest of the
hockey nation got caught up in a great spectacle and dramatic play.
Sparta won both home games and leads the series 2-0, while the Vsetin
colossus, which has won the last five titles, faces a two-game deficit
for the first time ever.
The first game, played April 9, was nearly even. Vsetin scored the
first goal, but Sparta tied the score within a minute. Richard Zemlicka,
whose line scored all of Sparta's goals, gave his team the lead, but
Radek Belohlav erased it with a clever finish on an individual attack.
Jiri Zelenka's goal in the 42nd minute decided the game. Vsetin pulled
its goalie, but ex-Vsetin forward Michal Bros made them pay with his
empty-net goal.
The second game April 10 was different. "Today there was only one
team on the ice - Sparta; we fell apart," said Vsetin assistant Miroslav
Venkrbec. Sparta won 4-0 with three goals scored on power plays.
Goalkeeper Petr Briza recorded a shutout, the second Sparta line (and
Zemlicka in particular) was unstoppable, as 13,788 spectators enjoyed
the game and did the wave.
Results of the final series: Sparta - Vsetin 4-2 (0-0, 2-2, 2-0),
Sparta - Vsetin 4-0 (1-0, 2-0, 1-0). Sparta leads the series 2-0.
Darina Johanidesova/Mirek Langer
After deadline: Sparta defeated Vsetin in the third game of the
series April 13, giving them their first title in seven years. Result of
the third game: Vsetin - Sparta 0-1 (0-0, 0-0, 0-1, goal scored by David
Vyborny).
Soccer League: Slavia Loses First Game, Sparta One Point behind
Slavia Praha, the leader of the soccer league, unexpectedly lost at
Viktoria Zizkov April 7. Slavia started off sluggishly and Zizkov,
struggling to avoiding dropping out of the premier league, fought hard
and in the 37th minute their Jiri Sabou opened the scoring. Slavia
managed to level the score after the break on Pavel Horvath's goal, but
it was helpless against the opponent's next attack. After Ludek
Straceny's corner kick, Kennedy Chihuri jumped for the ball against
goalkeeper Radek Cerny, who deflected it into his own net. In the 80th
minute Ales Pikl added a third goal on an individual attack and Slavia
lost 1-3, its first defeat in 25 games.
Slavia's loss helped Sparta Praha, which had to defeat Banik
Ostrava to move closer to the top of the standings. Sparta's Tomas
Rosicky played well in the match, as the 21-year-old youngster blew by
Ostrava defenders several times, but goalkeeper Martin Raska managed to
save his shots. After the break Rosicky's center-pass found Horst
Siegl's head, and the ball found its way into the net, giving the lead
to Sparta. Rosicky's shot from a free kick sealed the game, Sparta took
three important points.
Results of the 24th round: Zizkov - Slavia Praha 3-1, Sparta Praha
- Ostrava 2-0, Drnovice - Olomouc 1-0, Opava - Blsany 0-0, Dukla Pribram
- Brno 1-2, Jablonec - Liberec 0-0, Teplice - Hradec Kralove 1-1, Ceske
Budejovice - Bohemians Praha 1-2.
Standings: 1. Slavia Praha 61, 2. Sparta Praha 60, 3. Drnovice 43,
4. Bohemians Praha 34, 5. Teplice 32, 6. Brno 32, 7. Blsany 31, 8.
Liberec 29, 9. Zizkov 28, 10. Ostrava 27, 11. Dukla Pribram 27, 12.
Ceske Budejovice 27, 13. Olomouc 26, 14. Opava 24, 15. Hradec Kralove
20, 16. Jablonec 20.
Dita Kristanova/Mirek Langer
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* Frantisek Stastny, 72, legendary Czech motorcycle racer, died April
8. During his career he won four World Championship races. Together with
driver Karel Loprais, he won the Czech Republic Autoclub poll as the top
Czech automobile and motorcycle racers of the century.
* Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jaromir Jagr won the Art Ross Trophy as
the top scorer in the NHL for the fourth time. In 63 games, he scored
42 goals and added 54 assists, for a total of 96 points. He finished
ahead of second-place Pavel Bure by two points. Czech-born St. Louis
Blues goalkeeper Roman Turek won the William M. Jennings Trophy along
with second-string goalie McLennan, because the Blues recorded the
lowest number of allowed goals.
* The Gambrinus Brno women's basketball team participated in the
Final Four of the Euroleague for the first time. After losing to host
Ruzomberok of Slovakia (the reigning champion and also this year's
winner) in the semifinal, they defeated Dynamo Moscow 76-66 and finished
in third place. The tournament took place in Ruzomberok April 4-6.
Jaroslav Sauer/Mirek Langer
WEATHER
The birds are crying and mating in the parks of Prague and their
voices offer a sign that spring is here beyond any doubt. The mornings
are still mournful in mists and fog, but during the days the silver and
gray skies turn from time to time into sunshine, and temperatures of
around 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees Fahrenheit are immediately more
bearable.
David Mirejovsky
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
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