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Diplomatic Conflict
New Czech Premier Milos Zeman has been accused by German Foreign
Minister Klaus Kinkel of causing a diplomatic conflict. This comes
after Mr Zeman, over the weekend, likened ethnic Sudeten Germans to
Czech communists and right wing extremists. Pauline Newman joins me
in the studio now, with a report on the significance of the affair.
Eighteen months after the Czech - German declaration on mutual ties
was signed and with Prague's planned acession to European institutions
looming on the horizon, Milos Zeman's behaviour is being seen as quite
a blow to Czech -German dialogue, which already has a history of being
fairly fragile.
Last weekend, Mr Zeman managed to rock the boat, by criticising the
composition of a steering committee for a Czech - German discussion
forum. He said those invited to take part should be interested in
Czech - German reconciliation and that just as Prague had not
nominated any right wing extremists or communists, Bonn should not
send along any members of the Sudeten German lobby group.
The Sudeten issue clouds the Czech - German relationship despite
booming bilateral trade and Bonn's support for Czech membership of
NATO and the European Union.
The Czech Social Democrats, who are now in power, have always made it
clear that they had doubts about the Czech - German declaration,
signed by former Premier Vaclav Klaus.
On the German side, many Sudeten Germans have called for the right to
return to their homes on the Czech borderlands following their
explusion after the war. Most of these refugees went to Bavaria where
they have become an important bloc of conservative votes for
Chancellor Kohl who is struggling for re-election after 16 years in
office.
On Thursday, his government denounced Milos Zeman's statement and
German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel termed the remarks "unacceptable"
adding that the Czech Premier would now have to "straighten things
out". Kinkel said this in Berlin on Thursday, after a meeting with
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan, who was unavailable on Friday
morning for comment.
In the meantime, Milos Zeman has rejected demands made by German
Finance Minister Theo Waigel that he apologise for the remarks.
The stance of the Czech government remains for the time being unclear.
To quote Jan Kavan: "The government has not discussed the matter and
there is no official party line as yet. Nevertheless, the Premiers'
words should be taken seriously".
Referendum
The Social Democrats have proposed a draft law on
referendum. They have been pushing for this legislation for
several years but without success. More from Vladimir Tax.
The Social Democrat proposal suggests that the president would be
able to call a referendum about a new law and about affiliating
with other countries. A so-called advisory referendum could be
called in matters connected with internal or foreign policy.
The subject of a referendum could not involve, for example,
limitation of basic rights and freedoms or changes in the state
budget.
The president would be able to call a referendum only when asked
by the cabinet or two fifths of the lower house of parliament..
The referendum would have a positive result if at least half of
those citizens of voting age participated and at least half of
them said yes.
The group of Social Democrat MPs who have proposed this bill,
headed by Zdenek Jicinsky, presume that referendums will not be
held too often. They expect that opinion poll results will be
taken into account when deciding about initiating a referendum.
Neither the government nor the parliament would initiate a
referendum if opinion polls indicated that it would most likely
end in failure.
Strong Governmnet
The Czech minister of the interior, Vaclav Grulich, has been praising his governmment's reaction to the recent flooding in Eastern Bohemia. Peter Smith has the details.
The minister claims that the strength of the new social democrat government has allowed it to react quickly and decisively to the emergency situation. Minister Grulich believes that because his government is free from any coalition pacts, they are able to take swift action without any prolongued discussions and that communication and operational procedures have been freed up. He attacked previous governments for failing to find the 80 million crowns necessary to set up a system for monitoring and forecasting weather patterns.
Last week's floods in Eastern Bohemia are not the first time the country has suffered this type of natural disaster. Last year, images of flooded villages in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic, hit television screens and newspapers across the world. Radio Prague's Peter Smith visited the village of Troubky to see how Moravians are coping one year on and what the residents of East Bohemia can expect over the coming months. Peter joins me in the studio now:
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