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Carolina (English) No 425
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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 425, Friday, June 29, 2001.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (July 20 - July 27)
Marvanova to Lead Freedom Union - Mlynar Again Second
Hana Marvanova became the first woman to lead a party represented
in the Czech Parliament, the Freedom Union (US). Marvanova was elected
the new chairwoman of the US at the party congress last weekend. She
received 137 of 271 votes, seven more than Vladimir Mlynar, the only
other candidate for the post. Ivan Pilip was elected first vice
chairman, while the other vice chairs are Petr Mares, Pavel Pesek and
Robert Kolar.
Like Pesek and Kolar, Marvanova was also an active former member of
the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) in the mid-90's. In 1997 she was one of
the ODS members who left the party after its financing scandal to form
the US. Commentators say the new US leadership shows the party members
have overcome their initial distrust toward former ODS members.
The congress was essential also for other reasons. Marvanova
rejects the proposal to shrink the Four-Party Coalition (US, the
Christian Democrats, the Democratic Union and the Civic Democratic
Alliance) to a coalition of the US and the Christian Democrats.
Christian Democrat (KDU-CSL) Chairman Cyril Svoboda and former US
Chairmen Jan Ruml and Karel Kuhnl welcomed Marvanova's election.
Marvanova was born in November 26, 1962 in Rymarov in Northern
Moravia. She studied law at Charles University in Prague. She entered
the political scene at the end of the 80's. In February 1990 she became
a deputy in the Czech National Council (from 1993 the Chamber of
Deputies in the Czech Republic's Parliament) representing Civic Forum,
later as a deputy of ODS. She did not run in the election in 1998.
Petr Frinta/Sofia Karakeva
Constitutional Court Upheld Presidents Deeds
The Constitutional Court decided that President Vaclav Havel
proceeded properly in appointing Governor of the Czech National Bank
(CNB) Zdenek Tuma in November (see Carolina 396).
The government, as well as Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav
Klaus, protested Tuma's appointment. Prime Minister Milos Zeman's
Cabinet brought the issue to the Constitutional Court, claiming the
appointment was invalid and unconstitutional because the Constitution
requires the president's appointment of bank governor and vice governor
be signed by the prime minister.
The Constitutional Court also upheld several of the president's
objections to changes in the Czech National Bank Act, e.g. the provision
to change the bank's main goal to keeping down inflation.
Klaus said about the verdict to the CTK news agency June 20: "If
the judge-reporter in the Constitutional Court is Mr. Klokocka, then it
is the Constitutional Court of Mr. president." Klokocka protested the
remark, which questioned the court's decision-making process and was,
Klokocka said, evidence of Klaus' ignorance of the Constitution.
Katerina Komadova/Milan Smid
NEWS IN BRIEF
* Compensation for forced laborers in Nazi Germany during World War
II began June 21. The post office started paying those in the first wave
of compensation (prisoners of concentration camps and forced laborers
older than 80). According to Jan Sechter of the Foreign Ministry, the
second wave of compensation will start within a few weeks. About 84,000
victims should be compensated in the Czech Republic.
* The Chamber of Deputies overrode the president's veto concerning
the new Broadcasting Act. The president objected to instituting the
automatic extension of licenses, which guarantees existing broadcasters
one more license, and he also criticized it as discrimination against
new potential broadcasters. The new Broadcasting Act takes effect in
July.
* Construction work on digging a tunnel under the Dusty Bridge
(Prasny most) started June 20. The passage will make accessible to the
public the entire Deer Moat (Jeleni prikop) at the Prague Castle. The
project is financed by Vaclav and Dagmar Havel's foundation Vize 97.
* About 150 customers of Prague's Ikatour travel agency, booked to
fly to Burgas, Bulgaria June 23 will not be spending this week on
vacation at the Black Sea. Czech Airlines cancelled the flight from
Prague to Burgas because the agency had not paid. "If it turns out, that
the travel agency is in bankruptcy, we will pay out insurance to those
customers who can submit to us their travel agreement and a receipt
showing they paid for the trip," said Vladimir Krajic, general director
of the European Travel Insurance Company. The case of Ikatour could (as
has happened in the past) cause a series of crashes of other travel
agency that use charter flights together.
By Katerina Komadova/Sofia Karakeva/Milan Smid
Archeologists Discover Ancient Roman Army Camp
Archeologists found what was probably part of a Roman military camp
from the time of the Marcomanni Wars (166 A.D. - 180 A.D.) on the
western edge of Olomouc. This surprising discovery justifies the ancient
writings that speak of Marcus Aurelius' legions penetrating deep into
barbarian territory in an attempt to establish a new Roman colony on the
soil belonging to the Marcomanni and Quadi tribes. Archeologists called
in specialists on Roman history from Germany, Austria and Slovakia to
the site, and the experts confirmed the findings.
Katerina Komadova/Ondrej Maly
FROM SLOVAKIA
According to the Czech daily Pravo, the Slovak Foreign Ministry
made clear that the new law concerning Hungarians living abroad would
not be recognized in Slovakia without further consultation. The law was
passed July 19 by the Hungarian legislature and takes effect January 1.
The law gives many advantages to ethnic Hungarians when they visit
Hungary, e.g. studying at universities or the possibility of working
three months per year in Hungary. It also introduces an ID card for
Hungarians living abroad.
Slovak Premier Mikulas Dzurinda warned during his recent visit of
Hungary that the law could disrupt relations between Slovakia and
Hungary. Romania and the European Union are also concerned (the law is
not applicable in Austria). Hungarians reject the objections, saying the
law is one of few possible ways to support the minorities that are an
integral part of "the culturally unified Hungarian nation."
The Czech Press Agency says 3.5 million Hungarians live outside
Hungary, of them 600,000 in Slovakia.
Petr Frinta/Ondrej Maly
ECONOMY
Czech Economy Grows by 3.8 Per Cent
The Czech GDP grew by 3.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2001.
The figure, released by the Czech Statistics Office (CSO), means the
Czech economy is growing faster than those of the US and EU. The GDP
growth was propelled mainly by business investment and household
consumption. The CSO said it expects the growth in the second quarter to
rise further, to about 4.4 per cent.
The influx of investments was brought about by foreign companies,
which put money into building new factories and purchasing equipment.
Increased household consumption was caused by the growth of real income
(the average salary increased by 5 per cent in the first quarter, after
discounting inflation), by a lower unemployment rate (8.7 per cent in
March) and also by a change in the strategy of Czech banks, which
started to provide small loans on a large scale.
The recent months saw exports fall significantly, largely in
connection with the EU 's economic slump. As for the government's role
in the growth, experts say the growth is part of a cyclical trend and
conditional on the fading EU economy, while on the other hand they
praise the government for opening up to foreign investment, which played
a major role in reviving the economy.
Katerina Komadova/Stepan Vorlicek
Commerce Bank Privatization Concluding
The share prices of the Commerce Bank (Komercni banka, KB) have
been on a roller coaster, because of uncertainty surrounding the
government tender of 60 per cent of the state's share in the bank. Plans
called for a decision on a strategic partner to be made by the end of
June.
There were four finalists: HypoVereinsbank of Germany, UniCredito
of Italy and Societe Generale and Credit Agricole of France. The last
one abandoned the tender at the end of May. Finance Minister Jiri Rusnok
received evaluations of the bids from Goldman Sachs this week. The
favorites are Societe Generale and UniCredito.
When Reuters reported that HypoVereinsbank was withdrawing from the
tender, the bank's share price fell dramatically. They regained their
position when the report was denied immediately by the National Property
Fund and the Finance Ministry, and the German bank would not confirm the
report.
The expected final price should approach 40 billion crowns.
According to the finance minister, the cabinet is likely to decide next
week at the latest. "It depends on the prime minister, if he considers
it appropriate to hold a special session, or if we leave it for the
regular session next week," said Rusnok June 26.
Katerina Komadova/Stepan Vorlicek
After deadline: The government announced June 28 that the Commerce Bank
would be sold for 40 billion crowns to Societe Generale.
Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid June 29)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 33.765
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 20.329
Great Britain 1 GBP 55.640
Denmark 1 DKK 4.533
Japan 100 JPY 31.585
Canada 1 CAD 25.954
IMF 1 XDR 49.330
Hungary 100 HUF 13.944
Norway 1 NOK 4.273
New Zealand 1 NZD 16.356
Poland 1 PLN 9.953
Slovakia 100 SKK 79.898
Slovenia 100 SIT 15.480
Sweden 1 SEK 3.672
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.224
USA 1 USD 39.378
Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 17.264
Belgium 100 BEF 83.701
Finland 1 FIM 5.679
France 1 FRF 5.147
Ireland 1 IEP 42.873
Italy 1000 ITL 17.438
Luxemburg 100 LUF 83.701
Netherlands 1 NLG 15.322
Portugal 100 PTE 16.842
Austria 1 ATS 2.454
Greece 100 GRD 9.909
Spain 100 ESP 20.293
CULTURE
The Dance Prague 2001
The 13th year of Prague Dance (Tanec Praha), the International
Festival of Contemporary Dance and Movement Theater, was held from June
7-27. Dancers from Europe, Canada and Israel performed on the stages of
the Archa Theater, Ponac and the State Opera House. Performances were
given in Prague, Ostrava, Brno and Hradec Kralove, with the main of the
festival in the capital.
The first premiere was in Ostrava June 7, while in Prague it was
June 13 in the Zizkov dance theater Ponac. Slovak dancer Marta Polakova,
the Slovak duo Zuzana Bacova and Milan Kozanek, the Polish ensemble
Teatr Dada von Bzdulow and Czech-Canadian duo Chanti and Kay Grigar
performed there.
One of the most awaited performances in Prague was the five-men
Israeli troupe group Sheketak. Their spontaneous, unrestrained, lively
and sometimes witty performance greatly pleased the audience. The
festival was accompanied by the International Dance Workshop, where
students of dance met festival performers. Intensive seminars also
focused on Czech and Moravian traditional dances.
From Prague Marie Valaskova/Veronika Hankusova
SPORTS
Ospaly Wins European Triathlon Championships
Czech triathlete Filip Ospaly won the European Championships in
Karlovy Vary June 23. He took advantage of his knowledge of the venue
and won the first Czech gold medal ever in this competition. Ospaly was
among the leaders from the opening swimming event and also did well on
the difficult, hilly cycling course.
In the first half of the marathon he lost contact with Spain's Ivan
Rana, but caught up to him step by step with the support of the fans. In
the end, he defeated Spaniard as well as the Netherlands' Eric Van
Linden. Martin Krnavek finished 20th, while Martin Matula 23rd and
Michal Danek 28th. Ospaly thanked the fans for their support.
The Czech team of Jan Rehula, Stepan Chroustovsky and Filip Ospaly
added a bronze medal in the men's team competition June 24.
Mirek Langer/Mirek Langer
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* Czech tennis players were not successful in this year's Wimbledon.
Only Jiri Novak and Slava Dosedel advanced to the men's singles' second
round.
* The disciplinary commission of the Czech Track and Field Union will
resolve the case of Miroslav Menc, the Czech shot-putter accused of
doping. A sample contained norandrosterone was taken from Menc at an
non-competition test in Jablonec April 26. The second test confirmed the
finding. According to IAAF rules, Menc is disqualified for life, because
it is his second positive test. Menc, however, wants to clear his name
and has enlisted the help of Doctor Hnizdil, an activist in the fight
against the current doping system.
Petr Frinta/Mirek Langer
WEATHER
Tourists who came to Prague last week were winners in the weather
lottery. The weather was not too cold, not too hot, rather sunny, rained
some just to refresh the air, with temperatures of about 25 degrees
Celsius/77 degrees Fahrenheit. The typical seasonal fragrance in the air
reminds us that alleys of lime trees are starting to blossom.
Dear Readers,
During Charles University's summer vacation Carolina will become
a bi-weekly, as in past years. Summer issues of Carolina will be
released July 13, July 27, August 10, August 23, September 7 and
September 21. The editorial staff wishes you a pleasant summer.
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
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