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Fall of rouble not cause for serious concern
The devaluation of the Russian rouble has reverberated around the
globe, causing widespread speculation as to its possible impact on
Eastern markets. Daniela Lazarova takes a look at the situation in the
Czech Republic.
The Czech crown weakened on the news, dropping from 18 crowns 27
hallers to 18,40 to the German mark, but recovered before Monday's
trading was over. The Prague Stock Exchange reports a slump in trading
as businesses await further developments in Russia. The Czech National
Bank is likewise following developments closely, but has taken no
special measures. Apart from the possibility of this scaring away
foreign investors from the whole East European region, commentators
predict a possible slump in bilateral trade and damage to the budget
as a result of Russia's moratorium on its debt-repayments. However
when I asked Jan Hanousek of the Prague Economics Institute about
these concerns he did not seem unduly worried.
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Jan Kavan talks about the significance of the Prague Spring
Continuing our series to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the dramatic events of 1968, Radio Prague today talks with the new Czech Foreign Minister, Jan Kavan. The new government has sometimes been described as a cabinet of 68ers, because several of its members played an active part in the reforms of the Prague Spring. At the time Jan Kavan was a student leader in his early twenties, and after the Warsaw Pact invasion he was one of thousands of Czechs who went into exile - spending 20 years in Britain. Like many people, his most vivid memory of 68 is as a time when people were no longer afraid to say out loud what they felt.
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Last week we remembered what would have been the fiftieth birthday of Jan Palach, the student who sacrificed his life in an attempt to stop the gradual acceptance of the Soviet invasion in Czechoslovakia. We asked Jan Kavan whether he remembered Palach's death as a vain and desperate gesture, or an inspiration.
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And we asked Jan Kavan whether he feels that the events of 68 are still relevant to Czech society today - nine years after the final fall of communist rule.
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That was the Czech Foreign Minister, Jan Kavan, on the events of 1968. You can hear him again later this week when he'll be Radio Prague's guest in I'd Like You to Meet.
Premier Zeman on Czech-Slovak Relations
After weeks of discussions about Czech-German relations,
the limelight turned towards this country's cooperation with its
Eastern neighbour, Slovakia. Olga Szantova has the details.
Premier Milos Zeman, in his role of chairman of the Social
Democratic Party, played host to his Slovak counterpart Jaroslav
Volf on Monday. After their meeting they told reporters that they
wanted to renew above-standard relations between the two
countries. That had been the intention when Czechoslovakia split
in two on January 1,1993. A Czech-Slovak committee was set up at
the time to see to these close contacts, but ceased functioning
within months. The chairman of the Slovak Social Democrats
expressed his conviction that the two prime ministers of the day,
Vaclav Klaus on the Czech and Vladimir Meciar on the Slovak side
were to be blamed for the deteriorating contacts between the two
new states. The new Czech premier, Milos Zeman, has Slovakia on
the top of his list of countries to be visited in the early fall.
He hopes for closer contacts, regardless of who wins the coming
elections in Slovakia. This was stressed to ward off any
allegations that the Czech party was interfering in the pre-
election campaign in Slovakia. Among the most important problems
to be settled by the renewed Czech-Slovak Committee are some of
the still unsolved economic disputes following the separation, as
well as an investigation into the car accident in 1992 that killed
the Prague Spring leader Alexander Dubcek, at the time chairman of
the Slovak Social Democrats. But most important of all, the two
politicians agreed that everyday contacts on all levels should be
strengthened. Meanwhile Czech sports fans have learned, with some
surprise, that this country's best ice hockey team, Vsetin, has
been bought by a Slovak company. The best Czech football team,
Sparta, has already had Slovak majority holding for some time.
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