------------------------------------------------------------------
SURVEY OF CZECH PRESS, 28-6-1993
by Jan Jarab and Olga Cechurova
Daily newspapers surveyed: Cesky denik, Lidova demokracie, Lidove noviny, Mlada fronta Dnes, Prace, Rude pravo, Svobodne slovo, Telegraf (in alphabetical order).
Headline news in all Czech papers of the day include: 1) the U.S. attack on Baghdad, which is mostly reported approvingly of at least neutrally; 2) the breakup of the Czech Communist Party (KSCM) on its 3rd Congress (during the weekend). After its chairman Jiri Svoboda announced his resignation, thus admitting his failure to reform the party, the overwhelming majority of the congress delegates voted to keep the original name of the party and a strictly Communist program. The new chairman, M.Grebenicek, represents the party's "fundamentalist" wing. Thereafter a large block of leading reform Communist deputies resigned on membership in the party and announced the creation of a new party, the Party of Democratic Left. It is unclear whether ex-chairman Svoboda will take part in its activity.
LIDOVA DEMOKRACIE (Catholic) quotes President Havel as saying that "the Czech Republic is NOT trying to build a new Iron Curtain". In his regular radio broadcasts from Lany, the President gave support to Interior Minister Ruml's initiative to establish a regular border with Slovakia, and refused the "new Iron Curtain" speculations of some of the Minister's critic (notably Petr Uhl).
LIDOVE NOVINY (liberal) comment on the results of the conference about the institution of "ombudsman", which was held in the Czech Parliament at the end of last week. Though President Havel welcomed it, very few deputies attended the conference, at which the Danish and Dutch ombudsmen explained the role of an "independent defender of rights" ( JJ: Radical Party activists were present at the conference. Among other things, it was emphasized that the ombudsman in the Netherlands, for instance, has to defend the rights of ALL people present in the country, i.e., that even a person, who is not a Dutch citizen, can file a complaint to the Dutch ombudsman.) LN note that the ruling coalition considers the institution of ombudsman "unnecessary", while Poland has already introduced it and Hungary has also decided to do so.
In an extensive interview for LN, Bosnian refugee Raymond Rehnicer - a Professor of Sarayevo University who has been in Prague since October 1992, who organized help for Bosnian refugees and took part in recent demonstrations for international help - says: "There are many wars, and people often aren't able to identify with the Vietnamese, Kambodians, Bosnian Muslims; European often believe, that the others are simply barbarians, and that is why they can kill each other like that. Perhaps they had similar feelings towards the Jews in the 30's - that they are a people apart, and therefore their fate is unusual...A well-defined group responds to its own basic instincts NOT to defend Gypsies, Jews, Muslims. That's what I have found out in Sarayevo, and I am appalled by it." Prof.Rehnicer says that there are at least 5000 Bosnian refugees in Prague alone - most of them without refugee status, with the status of "tourists"; in Czechoslovakia, there might be 20 to 50 thousand refugees from former Yugoslavia.
RUDE PRAVO (left-wing). Editorial by Jan Rychlik, "How to Become Effectively Homeless," concentrates on the controversial citizenship law: "The law was intentionally written in such a way as to enable the state to get rid of undesirable people - especially the Romany community. Objectively, it resulted in a condition which makes many people of this country...citizens in their own land. In civilized countries it holds true, that if a state is divided, the citizens become members of that resulting state where they have been living. They are entitled to the citizenship of this state, and it is unacceptable to bind it with other conditions such as nationality, race etc. Moreover, the citizens of such countries have the RIGHT OF OPTION, i.e. the right to resign on such a citizenship and to choose another, to which they have some connection. Also Czechoslovakia in 1918 respected these principles; if it had done otherwise (as the Czech Republic today, which bases citizenship on place of birth and even on the nation
ality of one's parents), thousand of Czechs born in Austria, Galicia etc. would never have received the citizenship. The problem of the Czech citizenship law, however, is not only in the fact that it is based - contrary to logic - on the citizens birthplace, not his place of residence: Even those individuals, who meet all the reyuirements for receiving Czech citizenship, can not be assured of receiving it soon, because Czech and Slovak citizenship are not compatible. To become a Czech citizen, one must first be "released" of the Slovak citizenship; to issue such a document, the Slovak authorities require proof that you do not owe the state any taxes, that you are not under trial etc. Even if you have obtained all this, you can wait forever for the answer, because the citizenship law doesn't say in what term your application should be answered. Many people have filed their applications last year and they are still waiting; meanwhile, they can't ask for any documents from either the Czech or the Slovak governm
ent, they are stranded without citizenship, without a valid passport, effectively homeless...It should be in the interest of every state to integrate its members, not to create artificial minorities. There is only one solution: to novelize the law rapidly, so that all those citizens, who were permanently resident in the Czech Republic by Dec.31,1992, will receive Czech citizenship, plus a 6-month option right to change it to Slovak," says Jan Rychlik.
Another article, "Ecologists From Duha Will Encamp Near Temelín" report about an initiative which should be a part of a campaign, through which DUHA - an environmental movement - wants to urge the Government to start a public debate about the Temelín nuclear power plant (which is under construction). The whole action should be nonviolent and the basic aim of this camp should be to change the information situation. It will be held from July 1 to August 1,1993 at a place 15 km from the nuclear power plant.
TELEGRAF (conservative). Headline news concerning the Czecho-Slovak border says that the personnel serving there should be enforced also by Czech soldiers. These, however, would not be armed, says Interior Minister Ruml.
------------------------------------------------------------------
SURVEY OF SLOVAK PRESS by ÇTK News Agency
BRATISLAVA, June 28 (ÇTK) - The failure of the Slovak
parliament's 20th session to elect the candidate of the
opposition Democratic Left Party (SDL) candidate, Jozef Stank,
chairman of the Supreme Inspection Office (NKů) confirms how
fragile the opposition parties' agreements are, the Slovak trade
union daily +Práca+ writes today.
The paper predicts that the parliament will probably
experience the discussion of other, less important, but
"similarly deadening" bills on which "the coalition of the HZDS
(Movement for a Democratic Slovakia) and the SNS (Slovak
National Party)" will not reach agreement with the opposition.
If the parliament "gets stuck" when discussing these bills,
new elections will follow. But a majority of deputies are trying
to prevent new elections because "they know that a majority of
them would not return to the parliament," the paper points out.
In an interview with the trade union daily +Práca+, Slovak
Parliament Chairman Ivan Ga paroviç expresses his conviction
taht Slovakia will be admitted to the Council of Europe (CE).
He believes that "Hungary will not succeed in preventing
Slovakia's admission to the CE because it (Slovakia) belongs
there."
He points out that even if Slovakia were not accepted this
week, "this will not cause anti-Hungarian passions running high
because our citizens are prudent and tolerant."
+Národná obroda+ says that the CE's possible failure to
admit Slovakia this week would be "due to Hungarian diplomacy
which, linked to the chairman of the Együttélés movement, Miklós
Duray, and some other politicians of the Hungarian minority (in
Slovakia) is trying to blackmail Slovakia. This "evidently
anti-Slovak campaign" has started to be registered in some
European capitals "which are mainly concerned about the
Hungarian government's unwillingness to recognise the definitive
character of Hungary's border with its neighbours."
In spite of these facts, "an overwhelming majority" of the
Hungarian population in Slovakia are loyal to the Slovaks state,
the paper points out.
+Slovenský deník+, close to the Christian Democratic
Movement (KDH), says that Slovakia "can only lose if it applies
the ping-pong policy in its relations with the Council of
Europe, just as it happened in relation to the Itnernational
Monetary Fund. The Fund offered us in February the same credit
like to the Czech Republic, but several months it was only a
credit one degree lower - that destined for post-Communist
countries."
+Smena+, which is close to the ruling HZDS, says that
Premier Vladimír Meçiar has proved good knowledge of opposition
deputies when he declared that the opposition would not
eventually reach any agreement. "The non-election of J.Stank
(SDL) as chairman of the Supreme Inspection Office has fully
proved him right," the paper says.
The opposition deputies might only agree "not to support
the premier and his faithful," the paper adds.
ms/t
