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Carolina (English) No 395
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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 395, Friday, November 24, 2000.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (November 15-November 22)
Four-Party Coalition Wins, ODS and CSSD Lose Majority in Senate
The second round of the Senate elections took place in 26 districts
November 19. Voters by far favored the Four-Party Coalition (the
Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party, KDU-CSL; the
Freedom Union, US; the Civic Democratic Alliance, ODA; and the
Democratic Union, DEU), which won in 16 of the contested districts. The
coalition now has 39 seats in the 81-seat Senate, with one seat won last
week in the first round of elections.
The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) won 8 seats (it has a total of 22
mandates) and the ruling Social Democrats won in one district (15 seats
total). The two parties, partners in the Opposition Contract and in
plans for radical changes to the Electoral Act that would weaken the
role of smaller parties and the president, lost their majority in the
Senate. The Four-Party Coalition can appear to count on the support of
the chamber's two independents, one of whom was elected November 19.
The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) did not win in
any districts and has three seats.
In the Benesov district, former Director of the Faculty Hospital in
Prague-Motol Helena Roegnerova (Four-Party Coalition) nearly doubled the
vote total of Senate Chairwoman and ODS Vice Chairwoman Libuse
Benesova.
Foreign Minister Jan Kavan (CSSD) lost in Prostejov to Robert Kolar
(Four-Party Coalition), who received 57.9 per cent of the vote, while
former Foreign Minister and dissident Jiri Dienstbier (CSSD) lost to
Jaroslav Mitlener (ODS). Former Senate Chairman Petr Pithart
(Four-Party Coalition) was re-elected in the Chrudim region.
Voter turnout was low, with 33.7 per cent of voters attending the
first round and about 21 per cent showing up for the second round.
Maria Valaskova/Sofia Karakeva
After deadline: Emil Zatopek Dies
The most famous Czech athlete of all time, legendary runner Emil
Zatopek, died at age 78 on the evening of November 21 in the Central
Military Hospital in Prague-Stresovice. The four-times Olympic champion
entered the pantheon of sporting history at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics,
where within a week he won all three his disciplines - the 5,000m, the
10,000m and the marathon. Zatopek, who became a symbol of the will to
win, was hospitalized at the end of October after a stroke (see Carolina
393 and 394). His funeral will be held in the National Theater in Prague
December 6.
Lida Truneckova/Mirek Langer
November 17 a State Holiday for First Time
For the first time, the Students' Fight for Liberty and Democracy
Day was celebrated November 17 in the Czech Republic as a State Holiday.
On this day in 1939 Nazis executed nine student leaders and shut down
Czech universities (at the time Bohemia and Moravia were a Nazi
protectorate, while Slovakia was a Nazi puppet state). Fifty years later
a student commemoration of the events of 1939 turned into
a demonstration against the communist regime of the former
Czechoslovakia. The demonstration, its suppression and following
demonstrations were the key event in the country during the regional
dismantling of communism.
This year, politicians and witnesses recalled those events. On the
eve of the holiday Prime Minister and Social Democrat Chairman Milos
Zeman placed a bouquet at the memorial on Prague's National Avenue
(Narodni trida), where police attacked the students. President Vaclav
Havel, Chamber of Deputies and Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Chairman
Vaclav Klaus and other politicians placed their bouquets November 17.
The president then visited a photo exhibit of the events of the Velvet
Revolution.
Gatherings were also held in other Prague districts and throughout
the country. In general, the public and the media did not pay as much
interest as last year, the 10th anniversary, when the day had not yet
been declared a holiday.
Martina Parizkova/Sofia Karakeva
Demonstrations to Remove Dangerous PVC Toys...
Members of Greenpeace demonstrated November 15 in front of a Tesco
supermarket in Prague for the withdrawal of toys made from softened PVC,
which could be harmful to children's health. Tesco this week removed all
PVC toys from its shelves. It became the first department-store chain to
do so here. The Kotva department store, the largest in the country,
stopped selling these toys at the beginning of November (the editor of
Carolina is an adviser to the board of directors of Kotva).
...and against the Evacuation of the Ladronka squat
More than 300 young people met November 17 in front of Prague City
Hall to protest against the evacuating of the Ladronka squat. The squat
had been a farm building, but, abandoned years ago, squatters moved in
seven years ago. They later began organizing cultural and social
projects at the site. Squaters from Austria, Germany and Poland took
part in the demonstration, which became a several-kilometer-long march
to Ladronka, in Prague's 6th District. Prague City Council member Filip
Dvorak ordered Ladronka cleared out November 9 with the use of police
force. Squatters are opposing the evacuation by challenging in court the
validity of the contract for the future use of Ladronka.
Tereza Polachova, Radim Hladik/Pavla Krizkova
Nuclear Reaction in Temelin Stopped by Mistake
Around 3 a.m. November 18 the nuclear reaction in the first block
of the Temelin nuclear power plant was stopped. According to the
statement released by Temelin, no safety nor technical difficulties, but
a simple human error was the reason for the unexpected shutdown.
Temelin, according to the statement, is performing flawlessly. Austrian
and Czech opponents of Temelin spoke again of the lack of trust in the
plant.
Martin Roubal/Ondrej Maly
Austria blocks EU-Czech Negotiations Because of Temelin
The planned negotiations between the European Union and the Czech
Republic on energy, scheduled for November 16 in Brussels, did not take
place. EU member states did not approve a unanimous position because of
Austrian stipulations concerning the Temelin nuclear power plant. EU
regulations require a unanimous approval before such talks can begin, so
Austria thus succeeded in stopping the Czech Republic's membership talks
even though the other EU countries do not consider Temelin a barrier to
membership.
Martin Roubal/Ondrej Maly
FROM SLOVAKIA
Dzurinda Chairman of New Party SDKU
Slovak Premier Mikulas Dzurinda founded a new political party, the
Slovak Christian-Democratic Union (SDKU), and was elected its chairman
November 18. Not only is he the leader of this party, but also of the
ruling Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK). Some partners from the
government coalition were not present at the founding congress. During
a press conference Dzurinda said the SDKU would like to be the party
that forms the government after elections in 2002. The next government,
Dzurinda said, should be created by the SDKU, the Party of the Hungarian
Coalition (SMK) and the post-communist Party of the Democratic Left
(SDL'). After the founding of the SDKU, government coalition partner the
Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) left the common legislative club
with the other coalition parties.
FROM SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF
* The anniversary of November 17, 1989 was celebrated by a few people
in Slovakia. The commemoration of the Velvet Revolution in Kosice more
resembled a meeting of friends accompanied by candles and the dissident
songs of Karel Kryl, Jaroslav Hutka and the song A Prayer for Martha
(Modlitba pro Martu). Chairman of Democratic Party and one of the
founders of the Public against Violence (the party which took over from
the communists in Slovakia) Jan Langos recalled the demands of his
movement - free elections, freedom of speech, assembly, the end of
ideological education and culture, a ban the leading role of the party,
etc. He said those present should consider which of these demands were
fulfilled and which were not.
* The results of the Golden Nightingale (Slavik) 2000 popular music
poll were announced November 18. The winner in the category of best
female singer and the top overall vote-getter was Jana Kirschnerova.
Second place went to Marika Gombitova, a former star in the 1980's who
is now confined to a wheelchair and had avoided public appearances in
recent years. Gombitova sang at the awards ceremony and received
a standing ovation. The group Elan, whose songs are still those played
most often by Slovak radio stations, won the Golden Nightingale as best
group. Jozo Raz, the singer of Elan who nearly died in a motorcycle
accident last year, also won the prize as best male singer. He beat out
previous winner Pavol Habera, who was second, with Richard Mueller in
third place.
Veronika Pavlu/Veronika Hankusova, Zdenek Sloboda
ECONOMY
New CNB Governor to Be Appointed Next Week
President Vaclav Havel announced at a press conference November 21
that a new governor of the Czech National Bank (CNB) will be appointed
next week. Havel said he met with many experts and the candidates to
replace Governor Josef Tosovsky. Tosovsky is said to favor Banking
Council member Oldrich Dedek, but leading Czech newspapers agree that
Zdenek Tuma, vice governor of the CNB, is most likely to get the post.
Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Vaclav Klaus and Prime Minister
Milos Zeman object that Havel did not consult the matter with them.
Radim Hladik/Stepan Vorlicek
French and Portuguese Beef Barred
The ban on importing beef from France and Portugal, issued by the
State Veterinary Committee, became valid November 21. The regulation
also applies to cattle and bone meal. It was imposed to prevent the
spread of Mad Cow Disease (BSE - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy),
which is often associated with the rare, neuron-destroying and fatal
Creutzfeld-Jacob disease. The Czech Republic took a similar precaution
July 25, 1994, when an embargo was imposed on cattle from Switzerland
and Great Britain, in spite of the fact that the illness had never
occurred in this country.
Pavla Reznickova/Stepan Vorlicek
ECONOMY IN BRIEF
* The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said
Central and Eastern Europe are growing rapidly. The EBRD pointed out the
necessity of structural reforms. The recommendations include a more
radical reform of the judicial system, the public-support system and
education. In order to sustain economic growth, the Czech Republic ought
to improve the enforcement of creditors' rights and deal more
effectively with bankruptcies. Restrictions of public support would help
the budget, and education should become fundamental to future economic
development.
* Farmers afflicted by the droughts and heat waves of this spring can
request compensation, beginning December 1. The state freed 5 billion
crowns, damages are estimated at more than 10.7 billion crowns. The
payment will be based on maps that distinguish three zones according to
the degree of damage.
Radim Hladik, Pavla Reznickova/Stepan Vorlicek
Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid November 24)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 36.360
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 21.242
Great Britain 1 GBP 57.192
Denmark 1 DKK 4.604
Japan 100 JPY 36.972
Canada 1 CAD 26.367
IMF 1 XDR 51.920
Hungary 100 HUF 13.006
Norway 1 NOK 4.294
New Zealand 1 NZD 16.251
Poland 1 PLN 8.866
Greece 100 GRD 10.100
Slovakia 100 SKK 80.714
Slovenia 100 SIT 16.227
Sweden 1 SEK 3.966
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.597
USA 1 USD 40.713
Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 17.568
Belgium 100 BEF 85.176
Finland 1 FIM 5.779
France 1 FRF 5.238
Ireland 1 IEP 43.628
Italy 1000 ITL 17.745
Luxemburg 100 LUF 85.176
Netherlands 1 NLG 15.592
Portugal 100 PTE 17.139
Austria 1 ATS 2.497
Spain 100 ESP 20.651
CULTURE
Prague Theater Festival of the German Language
Brecht's play The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Kavkazsky kridovy kruh),
staged November 15 in the Vinohrady Theater (Vinohradske divadlo) by the
Habima Israeli National Theater from Tel Aviv, closed the two-week
Prague Theater Festival of the German Language (see Carolina 393). The
aim of the festival, which took place for the fifth time, was to bring
together the Czech, German and Jewish cultures that existed in nearly
equal measures in Prague before World War II. The festival presented 14
theater performances and several literary-musical soirees, such as the
one-woman show of Vienna Burgtheater actress Erika Pluhar I'll Never
Surrender.
As part of the Prague, European City of Culture 2000 project,
another two-week festival began November 16: a series of Jewish cultural
events called Nine Gates (Devet bran).
Zuzana Boleslavova/Milan Smid
Jindrich Chalupecky Award Goes to David Cerny
David Cerny November 16 received the Jindrich Chalupecky Award for
gifted artists younger than 35. The graduate of Prague's School for
Applied Arts became famous in the early 90's when he painted pink a tank
in front of the Palace of Justice in the Smichov neighborhood; lately he
created figures of toddlers climbing up the Zizkov TV tower. He also had
roles in the films Buttoners (Knoflikari) and Prague through the Eyes
of... (Praha ocima...). The artist drew more attention to himself when
he refused to receive the award in the Expo Palace (Veletrzni palac)
because of clashes with National Gallery Director Milan Knizak, so
President Vaclav Havel presented Cerny the award on the sidewalk in
front of the building.
The award, named for a Czech art historian, has been given since
1990.
Martina Oplatkova/Adam Fendrych
Czech Egyptologists Make Important Discovery
A group of Czech and Egyptian egyptologists discovered
a 4,500-year-old tomb from the times of the Sixth Dynasty, the rule of
the Pharaoh Teti, near the Abu Sir pyramids (about 28km southwest from
Cairo). It is the place of last repose for Inti, a judge and an
archivist from the city of Nekhen, which was looted a short time after
being built. The discovery is very valuable, because it comes from
a less known era, when pyramids were not built any more.
Eva Hejzlarova/Adam Fendrych
SPORTS
Soccer League: Slavia Loses Points Again
Slavia Praha's players could not break their sad streak, failing to
score against Drnovice in a 0-0 draw. Slavia is already 17 points behind
its traditional rival, Sparta Praha.
Ostrava fans waited 12 games for a win - it finally came in
Pribram, for Pribram the 1-3 loss was the first in eight games. Ostrava
played under its new coach for the first time, as Milan Boksa was
replaced by Jaroslav Gurtler.
Results of the 15th round: Olomouc - Sparta Praha 0-1, Slavia Praha
- Drnovice 0-0, Zizkov - Bohemians Praha 2-1, Pribram - Ostrava 1-3,
Jablonec - Plzen 2-0, Ceske Budejovice - Stare Mesto 1-1, Teplice -
Blsany 3-1, Brno - Liberec 3-1.
Standings: 1. Sparta Praha 36, 2. Teplice 27, 3. Pribram 24, 4.
Liberec 24, 5. Stare Mesto 21, 6. Olomouc 20, 7. Slavia Praha 19, 8.
Bohemians Praha 19, 9. Zizkov 19, 10. Blsany 16, 11. Drnovice 16, 12.
Jablonec 16, 13. Ostrava 15, 14. Ceske Budejovice 12, 15. Brno 11, 16.
Plren 9.
Renata Vlasakova/Mirek Langer
Hockey Extralegaue: Kladno Beats Reigning Champion Sparta
The magic number three ruled the game between Litvinov and Havirov
in the 23rd round of the Czech Telecom Hockey Extraleague. Litvinov
scored three times within 333 seconds, while Havirov's only goal came in
the third period.
One round later Kladno showed it knows how to surprise Sparta. The
reigning champion lost on its own ice 1-2, helping Kladno to move up
from last place in the standings.
Results of the 23rd round: Zlin - Znojmo 6-2, Slavia Praha - Plzen
3-2, Pardubice - Vsetin 2-0, Karlovy Vary - Sparta Praha 1-3, Vitkovice
- Ceske Budejovice 3-1, Kladno - Trinec 6-4, Litvinov - Havirov 5-1.
Results of the 24th round: Plzen - Zlin 1-1, Trinec - Slavia Praha
5-2, Havirov - Pardubice 2-4, Vsetin - Karlovy Vary 6-2, Znojmo -
Vitkovice 3-2, Sparta Praha - Kladno 1-2, Ceske Budejovice - Litvinov
2-2.
Standings: 1. Pardubice 47, 2. Litvinov 44, 3. Vsetin 44, 4.
Vitkovice 42, 5. Sparta Praha 37, 6. Trinec 37, 7. Zlin 36, 8. Plzen 36,
9. Slavia Praha 31, 10. Znojmo 31, 11. Karlovy Vary 26, 12. Havirov 26,
13. Kladno 26, 14. Ceske Budejovice 24.
Jana Niklova/Mirek Langer
Zelezny Is Top Czech and European Track and Field Athlete
The Olympic gold-medalist in the javelin Jan Zelezny won the title
of the Czech and the European track and field athlete of the year in one
day. He was elected the top Czech athlete for the sixth time and took
the trophy at a celebration in Prague's Ambassador Hotel November 21. In
the poll taken of coaches, sports functionaries and journalists by the
Czech Athletic Union, Zelezny won in 1991, and from 1993-96.
Zelezny, the only javelin thrower in history to win three Olympic
gold medals (Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000), was also
elected the top European athlete in an internet poll of the European
Athletics Association. Zelezny won the poll for the second time, after
his first triumph in 1996. Second place went to British triple-jumper
Jonathan Edwards.
Renata Vlasakova/Mirek Langer
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* The Czech women's tennis team lost in the semifinals of the Fed Cup
to Spain November 22. In Los Angeles, Daniela Bedanova (54th in the WTA
rankings) lost to Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (9) 1-2 and Kvetoslava
Hrdlickova (43) was beaten by Conchita Martinez (5) 1-2. After a win in
doubles, the Czech team lost overall 1-2. Spain will meet the United
States in the finals.
* Weightlifter Zbynek Vacura, accused of doping, can compete again.
The Czech Weightlifting Union's Executive Council November 16 decided
there was not enough evidence to prove Vacura's doping. Vacura's tests
from the national team's summer camp show a higher level of DHEA
(dehydroepiandrosteron). The result of the test was announced when
Vacura was on his way to the Sydney Olympics, and he turned back in
Kuala Lumpur. The Antidoping Committee does not agree with this decision
and will appeal. The Czech Athletic Union, according to the precedent,
allowed Roman Zubek, the fourth-place 100m sprinter in the Czech
championships who was also accused of using DHEA, to compete.
Martina Oplatkova, Mirek Langer/Mirek Langer
WEATHER
The average temperature was slightly less than 5 degrees
Celsius/41 degrees Fahrenheit, but in the Czech lowlands and in Prague
you could have enjoyed moments of up to 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees
Fahrenheit. Nevertheless, the cold, damp, fog and smog in Prague
reminded us that fall is here. Snow lays only on the summits of Czech
mountains, therefore skiing fans have to travel at least as far as the
Austrian and Swiss Alps and climb to the 1200 meters/3600 feet, where
the snow cover begins.
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
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