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Carolina (English) No 408
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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 408, Friday, March 2, 2001.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (February 21 - February 28)
Constitutional Court Rules in Favor of Small Political Parties
The Constitutional Court ruled in favor of President Vaclav
Havel's complaint and threw out two parts of the Political Parties Act
concerning state financing. The court's 15 judges decided February 27 in
Brno that raising the state subsidy per deputy or senator from 500,000
crowns to 1 million crowns discriminates parties not represented in
Parliament. The Constitutional Court also threw out the provision
raising to 5 per cent of the vote from 3 per cent the minimum above
which parties have the right to a regular state contribution.
"There was here an evident tendency against the free competition
between political entities, because of the unbalanced distribution of
financial means to successful parties and to those less successful,"
said to the daily MF DNES Justice Vladimir Paul. Havel's speaker
Ladislav Spacek said Havel considers the decision a continuation of the
process of purging the legal codex of the unconstitutional changes made
to it in recent years. The president also succeeded one month ago with
a complaint regarding the Electoral Act (see Carolina 404).
Treasurers for most parliamentary parties agree the decision will
complicate party financing. Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and Chamber of
Deputies Vice Chairman Ivan Langer said the Constitutional Court
succumbed to the president's influence. He said parties will be forced
to seek financing from sponsors, which in the past has caused numerous
scandals.
Jakub Vavruska/Sofia Karakeva
NATO's Robertson Says Czech Army Needs Modernization Foremost
During his visit to Prague February 21-22 NATO General Secretary
George Robertson suggested the Czech Army reorganize into a smaller and
more mobile body. After visiting President Vaclav Havel in hospital (see
Carolina 407), Robertson also met with Foreign Minister Jan Kavan, Prime
Minister Milos Zeman and Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav Klaus.
With Havel, who did not describe the army's situation in bright
colors, Robertson discussed the purchase of supersonic fighters.
Robertson said he considers the proposed purchase an expensive
(estimates of more than 100 billion crowns) and unnecessary investment.
Concerning the experiences from Kosovo, Robertson said the most
important things for NATO are a well-equipped ground combat force and
the quality of means of communications. After meeting with Kavan,
Robertson said member countries should treat their obligations to NATO
as law. He was referring to the fact that of 132 compulsory, binding or
recommended obligations only 26 have been fulfilled by the Czechs. He
did not discuss the financial situation of the Czech Army, which is in
crisis.
Defense Minister Vladimir Vetchy said he does not feel responsible
for the problems in his ministry and does not intent do resign. Zeman
said the situation is not Vetchy's fault, but the result of actions
taken by previous ministers and their deputies.
Jakub Vavruska/Sofia Karakeva
Bill on Homosexual Partnership Gets Third Chance
After two previous vain attempts in 1998 and 1999, the government
approved a bill to allow partners of the same sex to conclude marriages
officially. The bill will move to the Chamber of Deputies, which has
rejected similar legislation twice.
The bill equates homosexual partnerships with heterosexual married
couples, meaning homosexual couples would commence their official
marriage by a declaration in front of a state authority and divorces
could also be handled in court. The bill does not address sensitive
areas such as foster children for registered partners, adoption of
children or becoming legal guardians. Gay Initiative President Jiri
Hromada said he is not asking for the right to adopt.
The bill's final form, which should be submitted by June 30, would
require changing a number of laws on property, housing, inheritance,
children, retiree pensions for spouses and taxes.
For the traditional opponent of the bill - the Christian Democrats
(KDU-CSL) - it is not acceptable that the rights of homosexuals would
become a part of family law and that their partnership would be equated
with heterosexual marriage. Cyril Svoboda (KDU-CSL), who is also the
head of the Four-Party Coalition that includes the Christian Democrats,
said the bill will divide Parliament and Senate not politically, but
personally. He said, "In each party will be those who will support the
law and those who will oppose it." He proposes establishing a
contractual law allowing two people to become partners in their personal
lives with a number of legal implications.
Pavla Krizkova/Pavla Krizkova
The End of National Media?
The Ferdinand Peroutka Foundation Fund and the Media Studies Center
of Charles University's School of Social Sciences organized February 28
a debate forum based on the provocative question: The End of National
Media? Among the guests were Ernest Skalski, columnist of the Polish
daily Gazetta Wyborcza; Petr Robejsek, head of the International
Institute for Economy and Business in Hamburg; Chris Elliot from the
British daily The Guardian; and American independent advisor David C.
Simonson. While Robejsek claimed that each nation has the media it
deserves and that international media capital is value neutral, Elliot
recalled several negative experiences with foreign capital (e.g., Rupert
Murdoch) in the British media.
The Ferdinand Peroutka Foundation Fund launched its activities in
September and shall start up an internet periodical devoted to media
issues.
Jana Niklova, Martina Parizkova/Milan Smid
NEWS IN BRIEF
* President Vaclav Havel February 24 left Prague-Stresovice's Central
Military Hospital where he had been hospitalized since February 12 with
bronchitis. Despite his illness, Havel met NATO General Secretary George
Robertson February 21 in the hospital. During his rehabilitation at the
Lany Chateau, Havel met his Slovak counterpart Rudolf Schuster March 1.
* Vice Chairwoman of the Chamber of Deputies Petra Buzkova returned
to the Social Democrats' (CSSD) party leadership when she was elected
the head of the Prague party organization at its February 25 congress.
Buzkova stepped down from her position as party vice chairwoman last
year because she voted in January 2000 against an amendment to the
Opposition Contract between the Social Democrats and the opposition
Civic Democratic Party (ODS). Czech media focused on the negative
attitude of Buzkova, who regularly finishes at the top of popularity
polls among politicians, towards party Chairman and Prime Minister Milos
Zeman, who recently anonymously criticized some party leaders as lazy
leeches.
* The Chamber of Deputies passed an amendment to the Higher Education
Act to enable people who pay for university-level adult education
programs receive a university diploma. Whoever would like to be accepted
to university as a regular student will have the right to have up to 60
per cent of credits attained in such programs to be accepted by the
university. The amendment was supported by the conservative wing of the
Chamber and still must be approved by the Senate and signed by the
president.
* Prague's traditional, yearly amusement fair opened its gates to the
public February 24 at the Prague Fairgrounds (Vystaviste) in Holesovice.
The original religious fair dating from the 16th century has become
a carnival of rides and similar amusements, traditionally tied to the
beginning of spring and St. Matthew. About 135 various amusements will
be offered to fairgrounds visitors till April 16.
Pavla Reznickova, Radim Hladik, Marie Valaskova, Katerina Kunovska
/Milan Smid
FROM SLOVAKIA
Legislature Accepts Amendment to Constitution
After three weeks' discussion, the National Assembly passed an
amendment to the Constitution February 23. All 90 of the government
coalition's legislators supported the amendment. The rest of the 148
present legislators - members of the opposition Movement for
a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), the Slovak National Party (SNS) and Robert
Fico of the party Direction, voted against the proposal. One independent
abstained from the vote.
The amendment strengthens the Constitutional Court's power, which
is supposed to reduce the number of complaints against Slovakia lodged
at the European Court for Human Rights. A public protector of human
rights, the ombudsman, was newly established. Slovakia promises to
support the national awareness and cultural identity of Slovaks living
abroad and to support institutions established for this purpose.
Foreigners with permanent residence in Slovakia have the right to vote
and to be elected to local and regional legislatures. The amendment
specifies provisions on when Slovakia's rights my be represented by the
EU.
On the other hand, the abortion ban proposed by the Christian
Democrat Movement (KDH) was rejected. KDH said it will file a complaint
with the Constitutional Court.
Romanies Discriminated, Says Verheugen
Gunter Verheugen, the European Union commissar for expansion, made
a three-day visit to Slovakia beginning February 21. The main reasons
for his journey were minorities, regional development and the reform of
civil service.
He met with representatives of the Association of Slovak Towns and
Villages and with the representatives of non-governmental organizations.
Together with Premier Mikulas Dzurinda, he visited the Romany
inhabitants of the Lunik IX, Rundan and Jarovnice public-housing estates
in Kosice. Verheugen said the government was doing its best, but
discrimination was still obvious against Romanies.
According to Verheugen, the EU plans to support Slovak Romany
projects with 10 million euro this year. There are about 500,000
Romanies in Kosice region, the greates concentration of the nationality
in the world, according to Czech MF DNES.
From Slovakia by Veronika Pavlu/Adam Fendrych
ECONOMY
Central Bank Decreases Rates Significantly
The Czech National Bank (CNB) lowered three key interest rates in
a surprise move February 22. Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Chamber of
Deputies Chairman Vaclav Klaus engaged in a serious fight with President
Vaclav Havel when Havel last November named new bank Governor Zdenek
Tuma, but Zeman and Klaus are likely quite satisfied with the cuts.
Tuma, despite skeptical comments on worrisome inflation growth and
possible increases of interest rates, took the opposite course. The CNB
loosened its monetary policy and decreased the prime interest rate from
5.25 per cent to 5 per cent. The discount rate dropped to 4 per cent and
the Lombard rate is now 6 per cent. Analysts say this moves spring from
an effort to support economic growth ahead of inflationary goals. Most
politicians expressed approval of the cuts and called them a positive
signal.
Martin Roubal/Stepan Vorlicek
ECONOMY IN BRIEF
* Czech Railways Ceske drahy, CD) is to be split in two, according to
a government bill approved February 26. Beginning January 2001, the rail
services would be provided by a publicly traded corporation, while
a state-owned company would be responsible for maintenance of tracks and
stations. The government said it hopes this will put a stop to the
company's worsening losses, but the opposition expressed doubts the
reform will be successful. Economic dailies exhorted that the company's
debts of 40 billion crowns should be resolved first, and the bill looks
to have a battle ahead of it in the legislature.
* Nuclear reaction was launched again in the Temelin power plant
February 25. The reactor had been put out of commission for a month due
to vibrations in pipes, and a crack was also found in them during
repairs. Austrian anti-nuclear activists consider restarting the
reaction a provocation, but they have not announced any large protests.
The daily Pravo wrote about an Austrian police raid of Greenpeace
activists who occupied a branch of the German energy company E.ON and
tried to discourage the Germans from cooperating with the Czech Energy
Company (CEZ), which operates Temelin.
Radim Hladik/Stepan Vorlicek
Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid March 3)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 34.690
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 19 810
Great Britain 1 GBP 54.233
Denmark 1 DKK 4.649
Japan 100 JPY 31.969
Canada 1 CAD 24.357
IMF 1 XDR 48.406
Hungary 100 HUF 13.030
Norway 1 NOK 4.212
New Zealand 1 NZD 16.215
Poland 1 PLN 9.308
Slovakia 100 SKK 79.208
Slovenia 100 SIT 16.102
Sweden 1 SEK 3.826
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.501
USA 1 USD 37.452
Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 17.737
Belgium 100 BEF 85.994
Finland 1 FIM 5.834
France 1 FRF 5.288
Ireland 1 IEP 44.047
Italy 1000 ITL 17.916
Luxemburg 100 LUF 85.994
Netherlands 1 NLG 15.742
Portugal 100 PTE 17.303
Austria 1 ATS 2.521
Greece 100 GRD 10.180
Spain 100 ESP 20.849
CULTURE
Slovak Theater Festival in Prague
The sixth Slovak Theater in Prague festival took place February
18-26 in the Theater without a Balustrade (Divadlo bez zabradli) in the
Adria Palace. The Prague festival is a sister event to the Czech Theater
festival in the Studio S+L theater in the Slovak capital of Bratislava.
Theater ensembles from Bratislava, including the Radosin Naive
Theater (Radosinske naivne divadlo), represented a significant part of
contemporary Slovak theater production. Theaters outside Bratislava were
represented by the Kosice State Theater (Statni divadlo Kosice), The
Martin SNP Theater (Divadlo SNP Martin) and the alternative GUnaGU
Theater (Divadlo GUnaGU). The festival ended with four performances of
the musical The Beatles by Daniel Hevier, which was performed in the ABC
Theater. As in past years, the performance of the duo Lasica-Satinsky
attracted great interest from the Czech audience.
Petr Frinta/Milan Smid
SPORTS
Czechs Leave Nordic Skiing World Championships without Medal
The last days of the nordic skiing World Championships in Lahti
failed to bring any surprisingly good results for the Czech team.
Jakub Janda, Jakub Hlava, Michal Dolezal and Jaroslav Sakala
finished sixth in the teams large-hill ski jumping competition, the best
finish for the Czech team since 1993. They finished seventh in the
normal hill competition.
In the nordic-combined sprint event, Ladislav Rygl moved to 28th
place in the cross-country run after poor jumps (he was 41st after
jumping).
The women's cross-country relay team (Saldova, Rajdlova, Balatkova
and Kocumova) finished ninth, while the men's team (Kucera, Bauer, Michl
and Koukal) finished 14th in second-to-last place, a great
disappointment.
Some World Championships results might change after a wave of
positive doping tests for Finnish skiers.
Zuzana Boleslavova/Mirek Langer
UEFA Cup: Slavia Praha Eliminated
The German team 1.FC Kaiserslautern eliminated Slavia Praha, the
last Czech representative in the European cups, from the UEFA Cup. After
a 0-0 tie in Prague, the Germans won at home 1-0 February 22 on
Vratislav Lokvenc's goal in the 59th minute. Lokvenc formerly played for
Sparta Praha, Slavia's eternal Czech rival.
Reigning Hockey League Champion Sparta Has Not Ensured Its Playoffs Yet
Results of the 49th round: Pardubice - Vsetin 0-1, Vitkovice
- Ceske Budejovice 4-4, Zlin - Znojmo 3-5, Karlovy Vary - Sparta Praha
3-1, Kladno - Trinec 1-6, Slavia Praha - Plzen 5-3, Litvinov - Havirov
5-4 OT.
Results of the 48th round: Vsetin - Sparta Praha 4-1, Slavia Praha
- Zlin 5-1, Trinec - Litvinov 4-1, Znojmo - Kladno 5-1, Ceske Budejovice
- Pardubice 2-0, Plzen - Vitkovice 5-1, Havirov ? Karlovy Vary 4-1.
Standings: 1. Vsetin 95, 2. Znojmo 80, 3. Pardubice 76, 4. Zlin
76, 5. Slavia Praha 75, 6. Litvinov 75, 7. Sparta Praha 73, 8. Ceske
Budejovice 72, 9. Vitkovice 71, 10. Trinec 71, 11. Plzen 66, 12. Havirov
62, 13. Kladno 56, 14. Karlovy Vary 46. Top eight teams will advance to
the playoffs.
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* Czech-Moravian Soccer Union President Frantisek Chvalovsky was
arrested February 27 at Prague's Ruzyne Airport. Police later that day
formally accused him of loan fraud. Chvalovsky's firm, the
Czech-Moravian Agricultural Company, borrowed 640 million crowns from
the Commerce Bank (Komercni banka, KB). Police say the firm used the
money for purposes other than those stipulated in the loan agreement.
Chvalovsky has not returned most of the money. If convicted, he could be
sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.
Marie Valaskova/Mirek Langer
* Regina Obadalkova and Josef Musil were elected the best Czech
volleyball players of the 20th century February 25. Obadalkova was
honored posthumously for her 1955 European Championships gold medal and
two bronzes from World Championships. Musil was among the finalists in
the men's worldwide poll on volleyball players. He won Olympic medals,
two World and European Championships titles. Josef Kazak was elected the
top coach of the century. Kazak led the Czechoslovak team to the 1956
World Championships title.
Radim Hladik/Mirek Langer
* During the hockey league game between Jihlava and Trebic February
22, Trebic forward Tomas Zelenka was seriously injured after he was run
into the boards by defenseman Marian Morava and hit the boards with his
head. He was transported to a hospital immediately. The doctors found
Zelenka had damage to his third and fourth vertabrae and damaged spinal
cord. According to the Czech Press Agency, Zelenka is unable to move his
fingers and is paralyzed from the chest down. Morava was suspended for
10 months by the disciplinary commission of the Czech Hockey Union.
Zuzana Boleslavova/Mirek Langer
WEATHER
On the night of February 22 a number of truckers spent the night in
the trucks, stranded on the Prague-Brno D1 highway because of a blizzard
and accidents. That night marked the first time the highway ever had to
be closed for an entire night. Dozens of firefighting units were called
in to clear the highway, and because of the calamity a number of hockey
and soccer games in the country's top leagues had to be postponed.
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
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