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November 22nd, 2008
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July 16th, 2008 | Current Issue

Beating the delivery line
After being turned away from crowded Prague maternity wards, couples fight to find a hospital

Results vague in Čunek audit
Investigation fails to prove bribery, leaving questions unanswered

Nursing shortage turns critical
Meanwhile, reforms under way to help labor market

Number of unlicensed drivers on the rise
Penalty point system for motorists only deters some offenses

Film festival closes with charm
Karlovy Vary winners indicate good news ahead for film industry

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BRIEFS


MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
The pro-radar group Inciativa Pro met with Rice, a noted pianist, and asked her to perform. She said, "I'll play when the radar is here."
MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
Despite her exact arrival time being top secret, Rice exited her plane to a waiting throng of journalists and a wall of security personnel.
After the treaty



Martin Kadrman, a university student from east Bohemia, filed charges July 8 against Schwarzenberg for high treason, sabotage and misuse of office
Russia threatened military retaliation if the radar and missile base are built in the Czech Republic and Poland. But, General Yevgeni Buzhinsky promised during a July 8 Prague visit that Russia will not bomb the country
The amount of oil flowing into the Czech Republic from Russia dropped July 11. Experts say that, instead of 500,000 tons of oil, less than 300,000 will be delivered in July. Russia says the reduction was caused by a technical problem
Iran tested nine missiles July 9. The Shahab 3's strike distance of around 2,000 kilometers could hit Turkey or Israel with a 1-ton conventional warhead. Iran is not yet believed to have the capability to strike European or U.S. soil
The EU's foreign affairs representative, Javier Solana, declined to comment on the treaty. His office said this is a bilateral Czech-U.S. issue and does not relate to the EU

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s July 8 visit to Prague wasn’t confirmed until the Friday before, and the late notice combined with strict security created chaos among government staff and journalists alike.
Foreign Affairs Ministry clerks seemed caught off guard when journalists wanted to be at the airport to see Rice arrive. “There are no plans for journalists to come to the airport because no one asked us,” deputy spokesman Jiří Beneš told me Monday morning.
Eventually, the U.S. Embassy allowed journalists on-site but asked everyone to arrive at 8 a.m. and declined to say when the plane would actually land. Thankfully, it’s always possible to obtain even top secret information in the Czech Republic, and I called a friend who works at the airport. “The plane should land at 10:10,” she said.
Indeed after waiting for two hours, Rice’s plane rolled to a stop in front of assembled journalists. She descended the steps, and a small welcoming ceremony took place. However, it was behind a row of armored cars that quickly drew in front of the plane, blocking the journalists’ view. By 10:20 she was on her way to a hotel.
The day that followed was more of the same — long stretches of waiting followed by brief spurts of furious activity. For security reasons, arrival times for journalists were at least an hour before each planned event, which included a 1 p.m. press conference with Rice and Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and the 3 p.m. treaty signing with Rice and Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. However, the schedule kept changing.
“We are sorry, but due to extra security measures implemented by the American side, we had to move the arrival time for journalists forward two hours,” came a phone call from the Foreign Affairs Ministry regarding the 3 p.m. treaty signing. This meant that one person could not cover Rice’s entire visit alone. After a lot of pleading and arguing, officials provided a bus for desperate journalists and transported us from one location to the other — in the process bypassing several orders of the U.S. secret services.
The treaty was signed and dutifully applauded by attending officials. At the time, no one seemed to realize that the table, and probably the chairs, had been used in the signing of another historic treaty. In 1968, Czechoslovak and Soviet prime ministers Oldřich Černík and Alexey Kosygin sat at the same table when they signed documents allowing Soviet troops to stay in Czechoslovakia after the August invasion.
“It’s the table we use for signing international treaties. I couldn’t possibly know what table has been used here in the past,” Schwarzenberg said later, when the press pointed out the eerie coincidence. “And, anyway, the furniture is not responsible for what is signed.”
A sizable resistance
Officials feared protest events throughout the day, but no large-scale rally materialized until the evening. One small incident does merit mentioning though. After Schwarzenberg exited the ministry building following the treaty signing, he wanted to shake hands with several demonstrators gathered. But suddenly an unknown missile was launched at Schwarzenberg, and a bodyguard jumped to shield him from the impact of what turned out to be a tomato.
“Clearly the attackers bought tomatoes in a supermarket because it just bounced off,” Schwarzenberg later told journalists. “I advise them to buy organic tomatoes next time. They’ll splash and cover me in juice.”
The only large protest took place in the evening, when just under 2,000 radar opponents assembled on Wenceslas Square.
“They promised us no more foreign troops after the revolution and now they are inviting Americans and making us a target,” said protester Eva Rybnikářová. “The government has yet to explain what exactly the radar will be defending us from. The only threat to global security is the U.S. arms race and their greed,” she also said.
Several communist politicians attended the rally to show their support. “We should not be driving a wedge into European unity and we definitely don’t want to become just another star on the American flag,” said Vojtěch Filip, chairman of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia.
The radar debate is far from over. With the signing of the treaty, one battle has been won by its supporters, but the war rages on. “We want to continue protests and we will lobby politicians who will now have to ratify the treaty. We have to convince them this is not in the best interest of the country,” said Jan Tamáš, spokesman of the No Bases Initiative group.

EU A new Union for the Mediterranean was established with the goal of ending the Middle East conflict July 13. Besides 27 EU member states, it includes 16 countries from North Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East, the BBC reported. It will tackle issues such as regional unrest, immigration and pollution.

RUSSIA Twenty Russian scientists are to be evacuated from their camp on an ice floe in the Arctic after it started disintegrating sooner than expected, the BBC reported July 11. Originally the floe was a safe 5 kilometers long and 3 kilometers wide. However, after it shrank to just 600 by 300 meters, an icebreaker was sent to pick up the scientists.
GERMANY U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama’s planned visit to Germany has sparked a row among politicians, the BBC reported July 12. Obama plans to speak in front of Berlin’s historic Brandenburg Gate in late July. This idea is welcomed by opposition Social Democrats, but the ruling Christian Democrats are against it.
NORWAY Two people were found dead at a music festival in southern Norway, the Associated Press reported July 12. The victims, whose names were not disclosed, were found in or near a bus at the Norway Rock Festival in Kvinesdal, 270 miles southwest of Oslo. Preliminary hospital reports show carbon monoxide poisoning may have been a cause.
FRANCE A French court has denied citizenship to a Muslim woman from Morocco, ruling that her practice of “radical” Islam is incompatible with French values, the BBC reported July 12. The woman, known as Faiza M., has lived in France since 2000. She applied for citizenship in 2005 and was rejected due to “insufficient assimilation.” She appealed, but the Conseil d’Etat, France’s highest administrative body, upheld the decision.

VIOLENCE White Circle of Safety, a nongovernmental agency, released a report July 14 indicating that police saved a total of 625 people from further domestic violence in the Czech Republic in the first half of 2008 by evicting assailants from their homes. The NGO gained the data from 15 intervention centers in support of home-violence victims nationwide, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported.

EURO A Eurobarometer poll released July 14 shows that only 53 percent of people are in favor of euro adoption in the Czech Republic, compared with 60 percent on average in the European Union, ČTK reported. Local support for the single European currency, to be introduced in neighboring Slovakia soon, has fallen 7 percent since 2007. Support was strongest among young Czechs, managers and self-employed workers.
MILITARY The military wants to buy 79 four-wheel drive vehicles with special equipment, reinforced chassis and ballistic protection in a deal said to be worth 317 million Kč, ČTK reported July 14. The military hopes to receive the first vehicles by early September and the delivery should be completed by next May.
PARKING More than 10 new underground car parks should be built in Prague within the next several years, Hospodářské noviny reported July 15. Locations will include the Na Františku area, Karlínské náměstí and Senovážně náměstí. Experts say growth in underground parking is part of the development of big cities.
VAMPIRE Local archaeologists have uncovered a 4,000-year-old grave in Mikulovice, east Bohemia, with remains of what may have once been considered a vampire, ČTK reported July 11. Experts discovered the remains while researching a burial site from the Early Bronze Age. The skeleton showed traces of unusual treatment, having been weighed down with two big stones on its chest and head.

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