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Carolina (English) No 417
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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 417, Friday, May 4, 2001.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (April 25 - May 3)
Peaceful May Day Celebrations
Expected clashes between extremist groups celebrating May Day, that
feared by the Interior Ministry, did not occur. About 300 anarchists
gathered after 11 a.m. on Palacky Square (Palackeho namesti) in Prague,
where they criticized the present social order, which they believe based
on inequality, and attacked proposed changes in the Public Assembly Act.
Then, armed with banners and flags and accompanied by samba music, they
set out on a march, peacefully passing an ultra right-wing rally on
Peace Square (Namesti Miru). The two groups were kept apart by police,
who had more than 1,000 men patrolling all day. A skirmish occurred at
the end of the march on Tyl Square (Tylovo namesti), where anarchists
met a group of skinheads chanting nationalistic slogans. The anarchists
dispersed at about 3 p.m.
About 150 sympathizers of the ultra right-wing Nationalist-Social
Bloc gathered after midday on Peace Square. In their speeches they
promised to take over the state. Musical accompaniment was provided by
two members of the racist group Hlas Krve (Voice of Blood). The event
ended without incident before 4 p.m.
A traditional site for May Day celebrations is the Letna plain,
where the Communist Party was supported for the most part by elderly
people. Communists and anarchists had rallies in Brno as well and the
far right also demonstrated in Karvina.
May Day is one of the least popular holidays in the Czech Republic,
mainly for its associations with the communist regime.
From Prague Radim Hladik/Stepan Vorlicek
Kasal Willing to Resign
The Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party
(KDU-CSL) will probably have a new chairman. Incumbent Chairman Jan
Kasal volunteered to resign in favor of former Vice Chairman Miloslav
Vyborny at the party congress to take place later this month. Vyborny
has 10 days to decide whether to accept. If Vyborny runs, he would most
probably defeat Cyril Svoboda, who has the support of the Prague party
organization and some of the regional branches. Kasal said he will run
for re-election if Vyborny turns down the offer. If Vyborny accepts,
Kasal said he will probably run for vice chairman.
Katerina Komadova/Stepan Vorlicek
Protests against Temelin at Borders
The weekend of April 28-29 witnessed rallies at the Czech-Austrian
borders to protest the Temelin nuclear power plant. The Austrian
activists peacefully demonstrated at the Dolni Dvoriste-Wullowitz border
crossing, creating a spontaneous but serene border blockade. The police
did not intervene; they only diverted traffic to other crossings.
A similar event took place at the Czech-German crossing of Strazny
the next afternoon, April 28. The anti-Temelin rally, organized by the
Bavarian Green party and the Platform Against Nuclear Danger from
Freyung, had about 3,000 participants with banners. Accompanied by
a brass band, they demanded the power plant be shut down for frequent
failures.
The last protest occurred April 29 in Szczecin, Poland. Ecologists
from Poland, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands demonstrated against
concealing the route of the train transporting uranium fuel for the
Temelin plant. Information about nuclear fuel transports are state
secrets in both the Czech Republic and Poland, and the police are now
investigating if releasing this information was not a misdemeanor.
Gabriela Pribilova/Stepan Vorlicek
Czech Army Forced to Use War Reserves
The Czech media informed about the desperate situation in the
maintenance and supply of Czech Army units. The Czech Air Force is
suffering from a lack of spare parts and basic equipment like helmets,
fatigues and oils and liquids needed for operating planes.
The crisis stems from the bureaucratic system of purchasing,
centralized in the Defense Ministry and its Central Office of Material
and Services. According to the daily MF DNES April 28, the office has
been paralyzed by fear and anxiety to make any decision after several
officers were arrested because of corruption charges.
The newly appointed Deputy Defense Minister for Economy Affairs
Jaroslav Tvrdik, 32, said he is ready to change the system. Tvrdik's
determination is supported by Chief of Staff Jiri Sedivy and by Air
Force Commander Ladislav Klima.
Katerina Komadova/Milan Smid
NEWS IN BRIEF
* The government April 25 approved a bill on freedom of religion and
the position of the church and religious organizations. Churches with at
least 300 members could be registered. Now, 10,000 members are needed.
Using corporate status would mean minor tax relief. They would, however,
have to wait 10 years before they could be effective in the army and
prisons and to receive state budget funds.
* President Vaclav Havel returned April 27 from a two-week vacation
with his wife at their villa in southern Portugal.
* According to the daily MF DNES, the fight against greenhouse gasses
in the Czech Republic has been successful. Greenhouse-gas production
went down by 27 per cent over the last 10 years. The Czech Republic
wants to lower emissions of carbon dioxide by another 8 per cent by
2012.
* The government April 25 approved a proposal for a social insurance
agreement between Germany and the Czech Republic. Citizens of both
countries would have the right to be provided with healthcare in the
other state. It would mean Czech citizens would not have to pay
supplemental insurance when travelling to Germany.
Katerina Komadova, Gabriela Pribilova/Ondrej Maly
FROM ABROAD IN BRIEF
* Iraq expelled a Czech diplomat in reaction to the same move made by
the Czech Republic last week. Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir Al-Ani was
expelled because, according to the Czechs, it is incongruous to be
a consul and second secretary of the embassy at the same time. The
London Iraqi newspaper Az-Zaman said Al-Ani was acting against Iraqi
opposition in Prague.
Dana Zlatohlavkova/Ondrej Maly
FROM SLOVAKIA
EU Temporarily Stops Programs for Slovakia
The European Commission April 26 decided not to send money for the
PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD programs in Slovakia, and has cancelled tenders
for projects paid by these funds. The reason is that Roland Toth, head
of the Foreign Aid Division of the Office of the Government, is
suspected of manipulating tenders, taking bribes and favoring companies
owned by him or his friends. He is said to have defrauded up to 60 per
cent of the 3 billion SVK provided by the EU. Brussels was warned about
the situation by non-governmental organizations lead by the ecological
movement Friends of the Earth.
Pavol Hamzik, Slovak Vice Premier for European Integration,
immediately removed Toth from office, and the government began to deal
with the situation. Political pledges were strong enough and the EU
cancelled the orders and promised the conflict would not influence the
membership talks with Slovakia scheduled for April 27. The political
opposition is calling for the resignation of Hamzik.
Robert Fico, chairman of the Direction (Smer) party (the second
strongest in Slovakia, according to the polls) and an independent
legislator in the National Assembly, told the opposition Movement for
a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) and the Slovak National Party (SNS) to call
for a vote of no confidence in Premier Mikulas Dzurinda's government.
The SNS agreed to do so, the HZDS did not.
Zdenek Sloboda/Adam Fendrych
FROM SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF
* Slovak hockey players, runners-up at the last World Championships,
met teams from Japan, Austria and Finland in Group B of the 2001 World
Championship in Germany. Slovakia defeated Japan 8-4, Austria 5-0, and
lost to Finland 2-5. Slovakia finished second in the group, advanced to
the semifinal group and is among the 12 teams with a chance to win.
ECONOMY IN BRIEF
* A European Commission predicts the Czech Republic's HDP growth this
year to be 3.5 per cent, with a prognosis of 4 per cent for 2002. If the
estimates are right, the Czech Republic would again begin catching up to
the EU, which is expected to grow this year at a rate of 2.85 per cent.
* The Commerce Bank (Komercni banka, KB) April 26 requested the court
to confiscate the property of Czech-Moravian Football Union Chairman
Frantisek Chvalovsky. He owes the bank some 280 million crowns, based on
a promissory note given to the bank by one of his firms. The group of
companies under his control owes the bank a total of 2.4 billion crowns.
Ales Borovan/Michael Bluhm
Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid May 4)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 34.645
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 20.240
Great Britain 1 GBP 55.626
Denmark 1 DKK 4.640
Japan 100 JPY 31.902
Canada 1 CAD 25.285
IMF 1 XDR 49.095
Hungary 100 HUF 12.961
Norway 1 NOK 4.286
New Zealand 1 NZD 16.416
Poland 1 PLN 9.820
Slovakia 100 SKK 79.822
Slovenia 100 SIT 16.000
Sweden 1 SEK 3.801
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.460
USA 1 USD 38.785
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 84.883
Netherlands 1 NLG 15.721
Portugal 100 PTE 17.281
Austria 1 ATS 2.518
Greece 100 GRD 10.167
Spain 100 ESP 20.822
CULTURE
Finale 2001 Has Two Winners
Two films were awarded the Golden Kingfisher (Zlaty lednacek), the
the main prize at the Czech film festival Finale 2001, which took place
in Pilsen (Plzen) during the last weekend of April The winners were Jan
Svankmajer's fairy-tale horror Greedyguts (Otesanek) and Petr Vaclav's
Parallel Worlds (Paralelni svety).
In the competition, restricted to new Czech films, there were 20
works, including four feature-length documentaries. One of them, The
Battle for Life (Bitva o zivot), won the Special Festival Prize. "The
whole jury positively liked it, because the film is not banal, it
vindicates documentary film and pleased us with its joyful tone," said
to the daily MF DNES director and jury member Sasa Gedeon.
The viewers' prize went to the retro musical Rebels (Rebelove),
directed by Filip Renc. The jury was chaired be Czech emigre actor Jan
Triska, while Spanish director Vicente Aranda came in connection with
the retrospective of his films.
Vera Vonavkova/Veronika Hankusova
The Glory of Baroque Bohemia Shows Bright Facets of "Dark" Age
The exhibit The Glory of the Baroque in Bohemia (Slava barokni
Cechie), this year's largest project organized by the National Gallery,
was opened April 27 in Prague. The exhibit is taking place in four
galleries. The part documenting life and death in the era is at Kinsky
Palace. The Prague Castle Gallery hosts Baroque Triumphs - objects
related to religion and the church, travel, industry and science. Two
more thematic collections - Baroque Festivities and The Great Power of
Baroque - were placed in Wallenstein Riding School and the St. George's
Monastery in the Prague Castle, respectively. Organizers of the exhibit
say they are trying to change stereotypes concerning the Baroque period
in Bohemian region, connected to the forced reconversion to Catholicism
and regarded as an era of darkness. Additional information about the
exhibit can be found at the URL http://www.barokng.cz/eng/index.html.
Vera Vonavkova/Milan Smid
Terry Pratchett in Prague
British writer Terry Pratchett visited Prague last week. The author
of fantasy literature and the series about Discworld, also a passionate
collector of hats and gardener of carnivorous plants, came to Prague to
attend the theater premiere of his Wyrd Sisters in the Longstreet
Theater (Divadlo v Dlouhe) April 27.
In the Krakatit Bookshop, where Pratchett signed autographs April
28, he presented the Czech translation of his first novel, Carpet
People. On the same day the writer celebrated his 53rd birthday.
Pratchett has published almost 40 books and 35 have been translated into
Czech.
From the Krakatit Bookshop Katerina Komadova/Veronika Hankusova
SPORTS
Czech National Hockey Team Advances at World Championships in Germany
Czech hockey players finished first in Group A at the 2001 World
Hockey Championship in Germany. The qualification round in four groups
started April 28. Three teams from each group advance into two semifinal
groups of six, from which the top four will comprise the final group.
The Czechs, last year's champions from St. Petersburg, beat Belarus
5-1, tied Germany 2-2 and defeated Switzerland 3-1. The Czech team
advanced with Germany and Switzerland and got three points for the
semifinal group with its showing. Russia, Canada and Italy are the next
opponents in the group.
Adam Fendrych/Adam Fendrych
Soccer League: Slavia Still Hopes for Champions League
With a 1-0 win over Viktoria Zizkov in the 26th round, Slavia got
back in the battle for second place in the Czech soccer league. Sparta
Praha secured the league's regular-season crown in the last round (see
Carolina 416).
Results of the 26th round: Drnovice - Brno 2-2, Ceske Budejovice
- Jablonec 2-1, Blsany - Ostrava 3-0, Slavia Praha - Zizkov 1-0, Liberec
- Sparta 1-1, Plzen - Olomouc 1-1, Stare Mesto - Pribram 0-1, Bohemians
- Teplice 2-1.
Standings: 1. Sparta Praha 61 points, 2. Olomouc 45, 3. Pribram
44, 4. Slavia Praha 43, 5. Zizkov 41, 6. Teplice 39, 7. Liberec 39, 8.
Drnovice 35, 9. Bohemians Praha 33, 10. Blsany 32, 11. Stare Mesto 30,
12. Jablonec 29, 13. Brno 27, 14. Ostrava 26, 15. Ceske Budejovice 25,
16. Plzen 16.
Petr Adam/Adam Fendrych
International soccer: Czech Republic - Belgium 1-1, friendly match April
25 in Prague.
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* Tomas Enge won the third race of the Formula 3000 FIA International
World Championship. He now ranks second in the overall standings, one
point behind Justin Wilson, his teammate at Coca-Cola Nordic Racing.
Enge took the lead from the second position at the start of the race and
never lost it. Bas Leinders finished second, Wilson third.
Adam Fendrych/Adam Fendrych
WEATHER
Wow! Is spring ever here - temperatures of 27 degrees Celsius/81
degrees Fahrenheit broke records. May 1 was so beautiful that Prague's
Petrin Hill was crowded to overflowing by those taking the traditional
holiday walk there.
Dana Zlatohlavkova
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
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