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Kohl on Zeman's Statement
The latest contribution to the controversy following
premier Zeman's statement on Sudeten German participation in the
Coordination Committee of the Czech-German Discussion Forum has
come from German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Olga Szantova has been
following the developments.
Chancellor Kohl, speaking at a news conference, accused
premier Zeman, chairman of the Czech Social Democratic Party, of
publicly backing Germany's opposition Social Democrats, because
they took a weaker stand on the rights of the Sudeten Germans,
expelled from former Czechoslovakia in 1945. Kohl went as far as
to say that for him this was a fully unacceptable style, and that
this type of interference by a head of a European government had
never happened before.Some three weeks ago, in an interview for
the Czech Prima television network, premier Zeman did say that he
was convinced that the future Social Democratic government in
Germany would have a better understanding for the fact that the
Czech-German Discussion Forum could only function properly if it
did not include members who were opposed to the Czech-German
Agreement. He meant the Sudeten Germans, whose membership in the
Forum the Czech Social Democrats have been opposing from the
beginning. Nevertheless, the German Chancellor's strong reaction
has taken commentators by surprise and is mostly seen as proof of
pre-election nerves on the German political scene.
Temelin
Ministers are defending the newly formed team of experts which will examine the planned nuclear power station at Temelin. After much controversy it has finally been decided that the twelve member team will be made up of experts from international organizations and will not include any representation from individual states. The commission will be composed of three representatives from the EU and one from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Ministries of the Czech government will also be represented as will environmental and technical interest groups. When asked whether the exclusion of Austria from the commission might adversely affect the Czech Republic's entry into the European Union, deputy chairman of the cabinet Pavel Mertlik replied that the international nature of the commission entails the participation of international organizations and that the absence of Austria would have no influence whatsoever on Czech integration into Europe.
The proximity of the planned station to Austria has aroused a great deal of public interest and debate there. To find out how the Austrian public are reacting to the commission, Peter Smith spoke to Angus Robertson of Radio Blue Danube.
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Hot Summer in the Czech Republic to Increase Concentrations of Ground-Level Ozone
Several days of tropical weather in the Czech Republic have hit a high on Wednesday. In some places, the thermometer read up to 36 degrees Celsius.High temperatures have also caused a large increase in low-level ozone. Lucie Krupickova has more.
The extremely hot summer weather lasted for more than a week not just in the Czech Republic, but also in many other Central European countries. Meteorological offices reported temperatures between 32 and 35 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, 38 degrees measured on July 21 in the northbohemian town of Zatec, hasnīt yet been beaten in this country.
According to a representative of the ambulance service from the moravian town Brno the sultry weather has not yet claimed any victims, as it did last summer. People have already got used to the heat, and have adapted to it.
As well as high temperatures, meteorologists have also measured unusually high concentrations of the low-level ozone in Prague - 250 microgrammes per m2. Although in big towns in the rest of Europe, such as France or Germany, traffic restrictions have been implemented due to the low-level ozone, Czech towns have not thought of taking similar measures.
However, as the deputy director of the Czech hydrometeorological institute said, such concentrations have never been measured in Prague before. In such cases people should avoid strenuous work, otherwise they may suffer from breathing problems, headache and feel tired. According to doctors people should drink up to 3 liters of liquid a day.
As one man said in the newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes, I know you should drink a lot in this kind of weather. But my wife thinks 10 pints of beer is too much. "You know, water is not to my taste," he concluded.
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