Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Carolina (English) No 393
CCCCC AA RRRRR OOOO LL II NN N AA
CC AA A RR R OO O LL II NNN N AA A
CC AA A RRRRR OO O LL II NN N N AA A
CC AAAAAA RR R OO O LL II NN NN AAAAAA
CCCCC AA A RR R OOOO LLLLLL II NN N AA A
STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC
Faculty of Social Science of Charles University
Smetanovo nabr. 6
110 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic
e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz
tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 22112219
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 393, Friday, November 10, 2000
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (November 1 - November 8)
Campaign Comes to a Head before Senate and Regional Elections
Senate and regional elections will take place in the Czech Republic
November 12. The Senate elections cover one-third of the country's
voting districts and the regional elections will occur in 13 of 14
regions. Prague will elect its regional representatives in 2002.
The Senate elections have not drawn much voter interest. The Czech
media have turned their attention mostly to two election districts,
Benesov and Chrudim. In Benesov, Senate Chairwoman Libuse Benesova
(Civic Democratic Party, ODS) is up for re-election. She faces Helena
Roegnerova, former director of the University Hospital in Motol, an
independent candidate on the ballot of the Four-Party Coalition (Freedom
Union Freedom, Christian Democrats, Civic Democratic Alliance and
Democratic Union). The other candidates are far behind the duo. If one
candidate does not receive a majority in the first round, the two top
finishers face each other in a runoff election November 19.
A similar situation will probably occur in the Chrudim region,
where, according to polls organized by SCC and STEM November 1-2, the
best chance for victory (with 38 per cent of the polls) lies with
Four-Party Coalition candidate and Senate Vice Chairman Petr Pithart.
Second place (with 25 per cent of the polls) belongs to Petr Stepanek,
the ODS candidate. Miroslav Slouf, the controversial leader of Prime
Minister Milos Zeman's advisers, is not doing well, with polls gauging
his support at about 8 per cent, which leaves him 1 per cent ahead of
Milan Bicik, candidate of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
(KSCM).
Josef Zeleniec, foreign minister from 1992-97, is trying a comeback
with the Four-Party Coalition in Prague's Fourth District.
Higher voter turnout is expected in the regional elections, finally
being held for the first time. Voters can choose from 41 parties and
coalitions. According to the latest polls, ODS stands the best chance to
succeed in the elections, with 29 per cent of voter preferences,
followed by the Four-Party Coalition. For further election coverage see
http://www.volby.cz
Tereza Polachova/Sofia Karakeva
Czech-Austrian Borders Blocked, Meeting in Vienna is endangered
Opponents of the Temelin nuclear power plant started blockades at
Czech-Austrian border crossings November 1 in reaction to the results of
the October 31 meeting of Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Austrian
Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel in Zidlochovice Castle (see Carolina
392). Schuessel did not persuade Zeman to delay the start-up of Temelin.
A delay should have allowed for a complex assessment of Temelin's impact
on the environment.
According to Zeman, the blockades seriously endanger the Vienna
meeting agreed to in Zidlochovice. Schuessel appealed to blockade
organizers not to threaten the dialogue with Prague. Austrian
anti-nuclear activists, however, blocked all the Southern Bohemian
border crossings November 3. The same day parties represented in the
Upper-Austrian Parliament and representatives of anti-nuclear groups met
in Linz. District Executive Josef Puehringer said the protests will not
abate. On November 4 the blockades spread to Moravian border crossings
and from noon November 5 until late the next day all 15 border crossings
were blocked.
Three main crossings remained blocked until the evening of November
9. On November 10 a meeting of protesters, European Commission member
Franz Fischler and Austrian members of the European Parliament is to
take place at the Wullowitz - Dolni Dvoriste crossing.
Pavla Krizkova/Pavla Krizkova
Havel Turns to Constitutional Court
President Vaclav Havel is convinced that certain paragraphs of the
Election Act and Political Parties Act are at odds with the
constitutionally guaranteed free competition of political parties and
has asked for the acts' annulment. Havel criticizes in particular the
100-per-cent increase of the state contribution for each parliamentary
mandate to 1 million crowns per seat per year. The president also doubts
the provision that would make it far more difficult for smaller parties
to get state contributions - 30 crowns would be received for a vote
instead of the current 90 crowns.
Representatives of parliamentary parties, mainly the Civic
Democratic Party (ODS) and the ruling Social Democrats (CSSD),
criticized Havel's statements. Both parties say Havel is trying to
influence the election campaign and to minimize the chances for
post-election stability. On the contrary, Freedom Union Vice Chairman
Vladimir Mlynar has voiced his agreement with Havel.
Radim Hladik/Sofia Karakeva
NEWS IN BRIEF
* Despite an intensive police search, hit man Jiri Kajinek, who
escaped last week from Mirov Prison (see Carolina 392), is still at
large. In the meantime the warden of Mirov Prison, Milan Kohoutek, was
dismissed, while General Director of the Czech prison system Kamila
Meclova survived in her position.
* The Children of the Earth organization declared November 3
a Car-Free Day. This day, designed to relieve the negative impact of car
traffic for one day, took place for the eighth year. In the Czech
Republic, 69 citizens' groups joined the protest in 45 towns. Seventeen
city halls supported the protest, nine cities organized free public
transport. However, politicians - with exceptions like Senator Jan Ruml
(Freedom Union) and Christian Democrat deputy Pavel Tollner - ignored
the protest. The City of Prague took a negative attitude toward the day,
as the City Hall rejected a request to show an exhibit on Old Town
Square on the possibilities of public transportation.
Jakub Vavruska and Radim Hladik/Milan Smid
FROM SLOVAKIA
Slovak-Czech Relations Continue to Improve
Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Slovak Premier Mikulas
Dzurinda November 2 signed in Bratislava an agreement on cooperation in
improving the quality of border crossings and bilateral exchanges in
education and culture.
Eva Hejzlarova/Zdenek Sloboda
Prince Charles Makes First Visit to Slovakia
Prince Charles arrived in Slovakia November 1 after his visit to
the Czech Republic (see Carolina 392). He launched his visit with a trip
to the early Gothic church in Zolna near Zvolen in Central Slovakia. He
visited the Badinsky Rain Forest nature reservation and in Banska
Bystrica was present at the opening of the British firm SCAMP's offices
there. In Bratislava Prince Charles met with Premier Mikulas Dzurinda
and National Assembly Chairman Jozef Migas. He ended his two-day visit
with a tour of Bratislava, guided by Mayor Jozef Moravcik.
Jana Niklova/Zdenek Sloboda
ECONOMY IN BRIEF
* The deficit has fallen by one-third in October. It was 17.3 billion
crowns in September, while in October it decreased to 11.3 billion
crowns. That amount is still 4 billion crowns more than in October
1999. The estimate for the entire 2000 deficit is 43 billion crowns, or
8 billion crowns more than 1999.
Martina Oplatkova/Stepan Vorlicek
* The government approved the proposal of Trade Minister Miroslav on
the privatization of the state-owned Transgas gas importer and
distributor November 1. The company, which has a monopoly on
natural-gas imports to the Czech Republic, will be sold together with
the country's eight regional distributors. The state will offer up to
97 per cent of the shares of Transgas, which has a market capitalization
of 60 billion crowns. An inter-ministry commission will receive and
evaluate investors' offers, and next August 31 will present them to the
government, which will select the winner of the tender.
Pavla Reznickova/Stepan Vorlicek
* Creditors of the metallurgical and engineering company Vitkovice
voted on the future of the behemoth at the Regional Commercial Court
November 1. The company has debts of almost 12 billion crowns. The
creditors, who might have saved 8,000 jobs with their vote, were offered
30 per cent of the company's receivables. Should Vitkovice be unable to
pay off the creditors, the debts will be covered by the state-owned
Consolidation Bank, the largest creditor of Vitkovice.
Katerina Kunovska/Stepan Vorlicek
Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid November 10)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 34.645
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 21.252
Great Britain 1 GBP 57.347
Denmark 1 DKK 4.647
Japan 100 JPY 37.801
Canada 1 CAD 26.291
IMF 1 XDR 52.131
Hungary 100 HUF 13.118
Norway 1 NOK 4.362
New Zealand 1 NZD 16.082
Poland 1 PLN 8.842
Greece 100 GRD 10.186
Slovakia 100 SKK 81.107
Slovenia 100 SIT 16.414
Sweden 1 SEK 4.047
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.800
USA 1 USD 40.561
Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 17.714
Belgium 100 BEF 85.883
Finland 1 FIM 5.827
France 1 FRF 5.282
Ireland 1 IEP 43.990
Italy 1000 ITL 17.893
Luxemburg 100 LUF 85.883
Netherlands 1 NLG 15.721
Portugal 100 PTE 17.281
Austria 1 ATS 2.518
Spain 100 ESP 20.822
CULTURE
Spiritual Kvintet Celebrates 40th Anniversary in Municipal House
The Czech folk band Spiritual kvintet thanked their audience for
its constant support during their November 4 performance in the Smetana
Hall of Prague's Municipal House (Obecni d
m). The band performed in its
traditional line-up with the exception of Oldrich Ortinsky, who was ill,
being replaced by Jiri Cerha. According to the leader of the band,
Zdenek Tichota, the fans of the group are becoming younger and still
appreciate the simple tones of spiritual music. During the first years
of their existence, these pioneers of Czech folk music were inspired by
black spirituals, Renaissance ballads and ballads from the 19th-century
National Revival (Narodni obrozeni).
Among the well-wishers were friends of the band, Jiri Pavlica with
his group Hradisan, which has worked with the Spiritual kvintet from
time to time, and Jan Nedved. During the nostalgic evening there were
recollections of the times Spiritual kvintet worked with Pete Seeger and
their performances for presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton and Vaclav
Havel. Tichota also recalled how the band played for Vasil Bil'ak, one
of the most despised figures of the Communist era.
Although the future of the Spiritual kvintet is not known, the band
still performs and is preparing a new CD.
Marketa Bartosova/Veronika Hankusova
Fourth International Documentary Film Festival in Jihlava
The fourth-annual International Documentary Film Festival, which
took place in Jihlava October 25-28, arose without state support only
thanks to the interest of the young people of Jihlava. Karel Vachek won
the competition with his Bohemia Docta, or the Labyrinth of the World
and the Pleasure House of the Heart (Bohemia docta aneb Labyrint sveta
a Lusthauz srdce). Sixty-one films, 14 of them Czech, were shown at the
festival.
Besides local talent Vachek, well known for his documentaries in
recent years, there were three internationally known filmmakers featured
at the festival; Alexandr Sokurov, Raymond Depardon and Richard Leacock
(the last two attended the festival).
Katerina Kunovska/Adam Fendrych
CULTURE IN BRIEF
* The fifth Prague Theater Festival of the German Language began
November 4 and will be taking place in several Prague theaters until
November 16. Troupes such as the Vienna Burgtheater and from Basel,
Karlsruhe and the Hamburger Schauspielhaus. The Habima Israeli National
Theater from Tel Aviv will present Bertold Brecht's play The Caucasian
Chalk Ring in the troupe's first performance in the Czech Republic. The
highlight of the festival could be the Deutches Schauspielhaus' 12-hour
medley of Shakespeare's plays entitled Draw Blood!
Zuzana Boleslavova/Adam Fendrych
* Jan Drda's Games with the Devil (Hratky s certem) is the first play
directed by Jiri Menzel as Vinohrady Theater's (Divadlo na Vinohradech)
art director. The new version of the well known fairytale premiered
November 3. Vaclav Vydra, Barbora Munzarova and Svatopluk Skopal play
the main roles. Menzel said his choice of the play had been made in an
effort to bring children to the theater and to lighten his repertoire
after a series of heavy dramas.
Martina Oplatkova/Adam Fendrych
SPORTS
Sparta Finishes in Champions League with Loss
Sparta Praha lost its last game in soccer's UEFA Champions League
0-1 to Lazio Rome at home November 7. It finished in fourth and last
place in its group, which means it will not advance to the Champions
League second phase, nor to the UEFA Cup, where the third-place team
(Shakhtar Donetsk in Sparta's group) goes.
Even the absence of some key Lazio players did not help Sparta,
which was better only at the beginning of the game. Three minutes before
the break Gottardi passed to Inzaghi, whose shot was deflected by
goalkeeper Blazek to Ravanelli's feet, who scored in the empty net.
Sparta had its best chance after the break, in the 57th minute,
when Jarosik found Siegl in the penalty box, but the Sparta forward did
not convert. On the contrary, Blazek made a brilliant save against
Ravanelli in the 69th minute.
Renata Vlasakova/Mirek Langer
Soccer League: Coach Cipro Sacked after Slavia Loss
A surprising 2-3 loss by Slavia Praha on Ceske Budejovice's field
was the final nail in coach Frantisek Cipro's coffin. Cipro led Slavia
in 1996 when it won the Czech league for the first time in 49 years and
advanced to the semifinals of the UEFA Cup. Karel Jarolim will be
Slavia's coach till the season's winter break.
Slavia's defense in Ceske Budejovice floundered and the team was
down 0-2 after 15 minutes (goals by Janda and Vacha). Lukas Dosek and
Janda's second goal left the score 3-1 at halftime. After the break
Slavia put on enormous pressure, but Ceske Budejovice only allowed
Svancara to close the final score to 2-3.
Sparta Praha defeated Blsany, carefully defending throughout the
game, 1-0 after Tomas Rosicky finished on a combination with Siegl and
Mynar in the 57th minute, although he was probably offside. Blsany coach
Miroslav Beranek said after the game: "I'd like to congratulate Sparta
on the win, but I can't. It won on an irregular goal."
Teplice recorded its fifth win in a row, defeating Ostrava 4-0, and
moved into second place. Two teams from the bottom of the standings met
as Brno defeated Plzen 1-0 and pushed Plzen into last place.
Results of the 13th round: Sparta Praha - Blsany 1-0, Ceske
Budejovice - Slavia Slavia 3-2, Zizkov - Stare Mesto 3-1, Pribram
- Bohemians Praha 3-0, Jablonec - Drnovice 0-0, Teplice - Ostrava 4-0,
Olomouc - Liberec 1-1, Brno - Plzen 1-0.
Standings: 1. Sparta Praha 30 points, 2. Teplice 24, 3. Liberec
24, 4. Pribram 21, 5. Olomouc 19, 6. Stare Mesto 19, 7. Slavia Praha
18, 8. Bohemians Praha 16, 9. Zizkov 15, 10. Blsany 13, 11. Drnovice
12, 12. Jablonec 12, 13. Ceske Budejovice 11, 14. Ostrava 11, 15. Brno
8, 16. Plzen 8. The standings are distorted as some teams still have to
play the postponed games from the Olympic period.
Renata Vlasakova and Petr Adam/Mirek Langer
Hockey Extraleague: Sparta Breaks Losing Streak
Reigning champion Sparta Praha defeated Havirov 3-0 in the 21st
round of the hockey extraleague to win its first game after five defeats
in a row. The win by Ceske Budejovice over Karlovy Vary was the biggest
surprise of the 20th round. Karlovy Vary lost after five games without
a defeat, while Ceske Budejovice got its third point after 15 rounds of
play.
The extraleague will now take a break because of the Czech national
team's participation in the Karjala tournament of the Euro Hockey Tour.
Results of the 20th round: Zlin - Vitkovice 4:3, Slavia Praha
- Litvinov 1:2, Plzen - Kladno 4:2, Havirov - Vsetin 2:4, Ceske
Budejovice - Karlovy Vary 5:1, Znojmo - Sparta Praha 3:0, Trinec
- Pardubice 5:3.
Results of the 21st round: Vitkovice - Slavia Praha 3:0, Litvinov,
Znojmo 3:3, Kladno - Zlin 6:5, Vsetin - Ceske Budejovice 3:2, Sparta
Praha - Havirov 3:0, Pardubice - Plzen 2:1, Karlovy Vary - Trinec 4:0.
Standings: 1. Pardubice 41 points, 2. Vsetin 39, 3. Litvinov 37,
4. Vitkovice 35, 5. Plzen 35, 6. Trinec 34, 7. Sparta Praha 33, 8. Zlin
32, 9. Znojmo 26, 10. Karlovy Vary 26, 11. Slavia Praha 25, 12. Havirov
23, 13. Ceske Budejovice 20, 14. Kladno 19.
Jana Niklova/Mirek Langer
After deadline:
Soccer UEFA Cup: Slavia Praha - OFI Crete 4-1, Slavia advances 6-3
on aggregate score. Slovan Liberec - Liverpool FC 2-3, Liverpool
advances 2-4 on aggregate.
Hockey - Karjala Tournament: Czech Republic - Sweden 1-4.
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* The health of legendary Czech distance runner Emil Zatopek abruptly
worsened November 7. Zatopek, 78, suffered a possible stroke and was
taken to the Central Military Hospital in Prague-Stresovice. He has been
in hospital twice recently and doctors classify his present state as
critical. Zatopek won the 1948 Olympic gold in the 10,000m, while four
years later in Helsinki he added three gold medals in the 5,000m, the
10,000m and the marathon.
* Ludmila Formanova, two-time 800m world champion, underwent surgery
on an ankle ligament November 8. Orthopedic surgeon Vaclav Smetana said
recuperation could take up to one year. According to the daily Ceske
slovo, Formanova does not expect to wait that long for her comeback.
Because of the injury Formanova withdrew after a heat in the Sydney
Olympics.
* Czech hockey goalie Dominik Hasek recorded his 200th win for the
NHL's Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo defeated Montreal 5-4 and Hasek made 31
saves.
Martina Parizkova and Zuzana Boleslavova/Mirek Langer
WEATHER
Nature offered us a wide variety of faces this week. While snow
fell at Lysa Hora in the Beskydy Mountains, wild poppies started to
blossom again in some places in the Moravian lowlands. A mild earthquake
(3.7 on the Richter scale) was registered in the Cheb region. The past
month was the warmest October in the last 25 years, with a daily average
temperature of 10.9 degrees Celsius/52 degrees Fahrenheit.
Meteorologists say November will be mild, as well.
Tereza Polachova
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The
subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. Send them
please to the address:
CAROLINA@cuni.cz
To subscribe to CAROLINA news you send an e-mail message to the address
LISTSERV@listserv.cesnet.cz
The text of message for subscription of the English version must be:
SUBSCRIBE CAR-ENG First name Last name
or for the Czech version
SUBSCRIBE CAR-CS First name Last name
To delete your subscription from the list of subscribers you send
the following message to the address LISTSERV@listserv.cesnet.cz:
SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS
We ask you not to send automatic replies to our list. You can
temporarily stop receiving of Carolina by sending the command:
SET CAR-ENG NOMAIL
All Listserv commands should be sent to the address:
LISTSERV@listserv.cesnet.cz
Please, don't send commands SUB, SIGNOFF, NOMAIL etc to the address
CAR-CS@listserv.cesnet.cz or CAR-ENG@listserv.cesnet.cz!
