JANUARY 7, 1999

C O M M E N T A R Y

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Meeting with premier Zeman and foreign minister Kavan, Joschka Fischer said that Germany would throw all its weight behind a rapid eastern expansion of the European Union and do everything in its power to make the year 2003 a realistic entry date for the Czech Republic. In practice this means accelerating not only the internal reconstruction of the Union itself but speeding up entry talks with EU candidates. Fischer assured the Czech side that during its EU chairmanship term in the coming 6 months Germany was planning to cover -and conclude- three chapters of admission talks and open eight others with the leading candidates in question.

If the Czech Republic meets the respective requirements there will be no hitch on our side, Fischer assured top officials in Prague. One of the issues on the forefront of attention is that the Czech Republic needs to take effective action to stem the flow of illegal immigrants who are using the country as a transit state on their way to Germany or Great Britain. Aside from securing its borders better the Czech Republic is likewise preparing to introduce visa regulations with around ten states of the Balkans and the former Soviet Union.

According to Czech foreign minister Jan Kavan, the visa requirements themselves will not resolve the problem of organized crime and illegal migration but they are a step in the right direction. He also stressed that while the Czech Republic was glad to know the expansion process was on track, the country would seek no unfair advantages. The important thing is that we should be well prepared -and although the year 2003 is our set goal as an entry date it has not been chiselled in stone, -Kavan concluded. From Prague German foreign minister Fisher has flown to Hungary on a similar mission.

The cabinet itself explained the change by claiming that the old Chief State Attorney, Vit Vesely was inactive and did not show sufficient initiative in managing the work of the State Attorneys throughout the country. Justice Minister Otakar Motejl, when he proposed replacing Vit Vesely at the end of December, said that the State Attorneys were not doing their job in a satisfactory way and that the chief attorney was not doing enough to change that situation.

Premier Milos Zeman backs that attitude. He mentioned an instance when he had approached Mr.Vesely to discuss what State Attorneys could do to combat the Skin Heads' racist motivated excesses. He had, the premier said, received a long and complicated answer explaining that they could do nothing. Milos Zeman also criticised the State Attorneys' slow and uninspired approach towards the Clean Hands campaign aimed at combating economic crime. The outgoing Chief State Attorney himself says the law does not enable him to effectively control and organise the activities of his subordinates throughout the country, but he does agree that the level of State Attorneys' work in various parts of the country does differ considerably.

Well, the cabinet is counting on the new Chief State Attorney to change that situation. She is Marie Benesova, a lawyer from Kladno, a town West of Prague. She joined the Chief Prosecutor's office in 1992, and stayed on when the Prosecutor's Office was changed to the State Attorney's at the end of 1993. But three years later, in 1996, she left and opened a private law firm. The reason, she says, was the same as the reasons quoted in recalling the former head of the office. She had criticised the situation, but to no avail, so she decided to leave.

Now she would like to see to it that State Attorneys show more initiative and a much greater interest in individual cases, that they follow them through. She intends to start with a thorough analysis of the situation and prepare a blueprint of change. As for personnel changes, she does not expect many, she is counting on changing the general atmosphere and on achieving more initiative and a more active stand in combating various forms of crime.

"On one hand we want to keep and increase ties in the field of business exchange but on the other hand there still remains the fact that our government believes Human Rights to be universal", said Kavan. A criticism of an abuse of these rights will therefore not be viewed as an interference in the domestic policies of the country in question, he continued. But protesting in the form of sanctions is not the right way to go as history shows that such an act will rather result in the increase instead of decrease of this controversial behaviour.

Business relations between Cuba and the Czech Republic have been on the rise in the past few years. Cuban Charge d'Affaire, Alcides de la Rosa, told CTK News Agency that an agreement between the two countries to support and secure investments will most probably be signed this year. He added that Czech companies have already layed out plans for the establishment of a chain of stores or a joint construction of a hotel complex. Furthermore, 30% of the electricity in Cuba comes from machines built by Czech firms. " Relations with the Czech Republic are a priority to Cuba", Mr. de la Rosa stated.

In return, the Czech Republic imports sugar-cane, citrus fruits, coffee, rum, tobacco, and pharmaceutical products.

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