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Czechs and Kosovo
Vladimir Tax joins me in the studio now with a summary of the latest Czech reactions to the Kosovo crisis.
Czech president Vaclav Havel thinks that NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia began too late despite early indications of a coming crisis. "Discussions started only after the NATO-Yugoslav conflict broke out... At the time when the issue really should have been spoken about, no one was interested," Havel said in an interview for Czech Radio. Nevertheless, Havel stressed his appreciation of the fact that NATO had eventually decided to take action.
"I have many times called for prevention of conflicts, unfortunately, once again a solution comes five minutes past twelve. It need not have been so, but we have to say that in the case of Kosovo the international community eventually acted more promptly than in some of the previous cases, for example Bosnia Hertzegovina had to wait much longer for democratic world to intervene."
President Havel also mentioned the traditionally good relations between the Czech Republic and Yugoslavia which Czech politicians often use as an argument against NATO strikes against Yugoslavia. In Havel's opinion, these cannot be linked to the current aggressive regime of Slobodan Milosevic. Allusion to some Czech politicians, Havel said an emotional attitude in this case was misguided and could do a lot of damage.
Meanwhile, Czech ambassador to NATO Karel Kovanda said that NATO allies were surprised by the reactions of some Czech representatives to the air strikes against Yugoslavia as well as the government's official statement on the matter. "NATO has greeted the stands by some of our representatives with embarrassment and a certain amount of misunderstanding," Kovanda told CTK news agency, adding that NATO would have liked to hear unanimous support from Czech representatives.
After a rather embarrassing suggestion to provide ten thousand USD in aid for Kosovo refugees, the Czech cabinet on Wednesday approved a total amount of 60 thousand USD to be divided among Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania which have to deal with the biggest influx of refugees. The Czech Republic is also set to speed up the deployment of a Czech Army field hospital in the Balkans as part of its humanitarian aid. Originally, the hospital was to have been ready in 40 days, which, as many MPs pointed out, would be nice but a little too late. Defence Minister Vladimir Vetchy pointed out however, that the deployment had to be done in the framework of NATO's decisions.
Bill on gay rights goes into its second reading
A bill on same sex registered partnerships was passed into its
second reading in Parliament on Wednesday . The debate over it was
one of the most heated the Lower House had ever witnessed with
supporters and opponents lining the gallery. More from Daniela Lazarova.
As the debate got underway a number of protesters gathered outside
the Parliament building . Members of a Christian Society calling
itself The Light of Life even managed to have leaflets smuggled in
and distributed among the deputies of the Lower Chamber.
"We believe in God's word, one of them told a Czech Radio reporter.
If this law is passed it would mean a return to pagan times. A
Sodomy. We cannot tolerate sin and homosexuality is a sin against
God." Challenged that homosexuals are also God's children, the
protester countered " they are spawns of the Devil".
Unfortunately, inside the Chamber some of the views presented by
Christian Democrat mps were not much better. Deputy Jiri Karas
insisted that "homosexuality is a deviation, a sickness of the body
which can however be cured" while Pavel Tollner accused the media
of undertaking a potentially damaging gay-rights campaign .
" this campaign which targets us all, will lead to homosexual,
bisexual and other perversions" Tollner warned the assembly.
A hum of protest passed through the assembly and several Christian
Democrat mps publicly distanced themselves from Tollner's words.
Social Democrat mp Petra Buzkova, whose own party is divided over
the bill, took the stand urging mps to watch their language.
Let us call things by their proper names, and clearly state whether
we want to help this minority, which faces a lot of problems and
prejudice, to lead an easier and happier life.
Another of the bill's strongest supporters was culture minister
Pavel Dostal who reminded the assembly that the best litmus test of
democracy was society's attitude towards minorities.
This vote, ladies and gentlemen, will reflect on us, on the state
of our minds. We cannot be truly free if we infringe on the freedom
of others."
Up to the last moment it was touch and go. The outcome of the vote
was 88 deputies in favour of the bill, 80 against. Those in favour
were the vast majority of social democrats, communists, Freedom
Union deputies and a smaller number of Civic Democratic Party mps.
The bill still has to pass two further readings in Parliament, gain
the approval of the Senate and the signature of President Havel.
Ghetto Survivors Gather in Prague
On Wednesday morning two hundred people in their seventies and eighties gathered in
Prague. They were all Czech survivors of the Jewish Holocaust meeting for the annual
congress of the Terezin Initiative. After decades of neglect and often blatant anti-Semitism on
the part of the communist authorities, the initiative was set up just after the Velvet Revolution
to represent and help support survivors of the Terezin Ghetto in North Bohemia and of other
Nazi camps. David Vaughan joined the congress, to find out what progress the initiative has
made over the last nine years.
Despite the age of its members the Terezin Initiative is an extremely active organisation, and
there was lively discussion at Wednesday's congress. I spoke with the initiative's vice-
president, Dagmar Lieblova, who herself survived the horrors of Terezin, Auschwitz and
Bergen-Belsen. She told me about the initiative's aims.
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The Terezin Initiative depends entirely on donations and has no state support, but from
Wednesday's congress it was clear that through hard work progress is being made, in undoing
decades of neglect. Under the communist regime, few Czechs even knew that the Terezin
Ghetto had existed.
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In terms of assuring financial support for camp survivors, alongside the work of the Terezin
Initiatve, there has been progress in recent years at a state and international level, in particular
through the setting up of the Czech-German Future Fund. Dagmar Lieblova has mixed
feelings.
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The number of people who lived through the horrors of Terezin is gradually dwindling, and
there is a real fear that their memory and memories will be forgotten. In making sure this
never happens, the work of people like Dagmar Lieblova who are willing to revive even their
darkest memories to keep the younger generation informed, is impossible to measure.
Milan Kundera turns 70 on April 1st
Although Milan Kundera is probably the most famous, internationally
acclaimed Czech contemporary writer, when he walks along the streets in
Prague during his rare visits to the Czech Republic, practically nobody
recognizes him. Kundera has been trying to hide in anonymity not only
here, in his native country, but even in France, where he has lived
since 1975. For instance last year, when he and his wife came to the
Kolowrat theatre in Prague to see Beckett's Happy Days, nobody in the
audience knew that the author of The Joke, Laughable Loves or Unbearable
Lightness od Being is sitting among them. Kundera does not like
journalists: first, they ask you what interest them and not you, second
- they use only those of your anwers, which they like, and third - they
transform them to their own language, that you don't understand, he
complains. Milan Kundera turns 70 on April 1st.
UNION PLANS TO STANDARDISE THE CZECHS
As the Czech Republic moves ever closer to EU membership, the full implications of what this will mean to traditional Czech customs and way of life are finally being realised. After the publication of an EU Commission Study last week called 'A Streamlined Europe', many in this country are worried by the EU's attempts at uniformity. Peter Smith has more..
Among the EU proposals published in the report is the controversial overhaul of the written Czech language, riddled as it is with it's accents and hooks above letters. The EU considers this to be incompatible with international computer keyboards, and has therefore proposed 'Anglifying' the script.. for example the ice-hockey player Dominic Hasek, will be expected to drop the hook above the 's' in Hasek, and add an 'h'.
Some of the most controversial, however, are the EU proposals concerning Czech food and produce. The humble dumpling, the staple diet of generations of Czechs, will be brought into line with EU standards.. that means between 8 and 10 cm in diameter with a thickness of no less than 2 cm.
The Commission has also targeted the Czech sendvic. According to EU trading practices, any food item sold as a sandwich must consist of two pieces of bread, with the filling inserted between - not laid bare on top of one slice as has been the case here for decades.
The proposals most likely to boil the blood of the average Czech, though, are those that concern beer. The days of Staropramen, Gambrinus, Plzen and Velkopopovicky Kozel seem to be numbered - after joining the Union, the only beer available will come in a bottle emblazoned with the 12 star flag and the neutral label 'EU Brew'.
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