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The Race to the Bottom the Sorry State of the Czech Republic's Obalka 2.1.2006 11:01 Str. 1 THE PRAGUE JOURNAL OF CENTRAL EUROPEAN AFFAIRS www.new-presence.cz The Weeds of Czech Corruption The “Problem” with Czech NGOs Spotlight on Bulgaria 90 Kč / in the USA, Canada, Europe 6 USD Will the Real Budweiser Please Vol. 7 No. 4 • WINTER 2006 Stand Up? The Race to the Bottom: The Sorry State of Czech TV Obalka 2.1.2006 11:01 Str. 2 Obalka 2.1.200611:01Str.3 Comfort whichyoudeserve NEW YELLOWLINESTO EUROPE LUXEMBURG BELGIUM SWITZERLAND ENGLAND GERMANY HOLLANDSWEDEN The most prestigious society magazine in the Czech Republic. Over 500.000 readers and rapidly increasing. Who is Who? Visit our web page on www.clubmagazine.cz G Distributed by post to high level 1 YEAR 800,–CZK decision makers Subscribe today ! G To the rooms of the Prague top First 100 subscribers receive the inspiring hotels 800 100 300 100 800 Bohemian Blues Band CD for free ! G Cca 100 quality restaurants Name G ČSA business class & VIP lounges Address of Prague airport City G The best Beauty Salons www.studentagency.cz State Zip G Cooperating with 950 Kč Invoice me Invoice my company Prague City Hall, Czech Invest, Czech Centre, The Czech Medical Chamber, all Chambers of Commerce, Company Forum Francophone Affaires, Česká ID no Manažerská Asociace, CMC Graduate School of Business, University of New York VAT no in Prague, Anglo American School, University of Pittsburgh, CEELI Institute, Foreign orders 45 €, VAT and postage included. Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs, The Prague Society for Int. Cooperation, Czech TOP 100 – and many more Obalka 2.1.2006 11:01 Str. 4 001_031_TNP_winter 2.1.2006 11:28 Str. 1 (K-ãerná/Process Black plát) Editor’s Notes Dominik JÛn - 2 News Roundup A look at events in the Czech Republic as well as key stories from Central and Eastern Europe from the last few months – 3 Opinions The Czech BBC: End of an Era – Jaroslav Weis – 5 Everyone Wants to be a Liberal – Simon Pardek – 6 Is Fear Our Only Motivator? – Václav Mezfiick˘ – 7 winter 2006 winter Point-Counterpoint Our Elites are Weak – Jan Hartl – 8 Our Elites are too Strong – Dominik JÛn – 9 The Czech Republic The Weeds of Corruption - Drahomíra Tleskaãová – 10 Rath and Healthcare – Martin Jan Stránsk˘ – 12 Waiting for a Pension - Libu‰e Bautzová – 14 How Past Communists Expel Present Heroes – Ondfiej Aust - 16 The World Thirty years of Spanish Transformation –Jaroslav ·onka – 18 Why the US wants Turkey in the EU – Viktor A. Debnár and Alan Smith - 20 In Focus Will the Real Budweiser Please Stand Up? – Asmara Ghebremichael – 22 A Nation Unto Itself –Whitney Laemmli –25 The Decline of Political Responsibility –Jifií Pehe – 28 Media Czech Radio Today: Political Correctness or Boredom? –Jan PotÛãek – 31 Interview with Petr Bísek, publisher of Americké listy – 33 The Race to the Bottom – David Pomerantz – 35 Spotlight on Bulgaria RESENCE Fake Revolutions – Jordan Vasilev – 40 Bulgaria’s Journey –Vladimír KfiíÏ – 42 P Czech Fervor in the Balkans –RÛÏena Havránková – 44 The Poison Umbrella – Yveta Kenety – 46 From Balkan to Brother? –Lubo‰ Palata – 49 Culture American Ex-Pats Come-Of-Age – Kate Schmier – 50 Interview with Czech documentary filmmaker Bfietislav Rychlík –Irena JirkÛ – 52 EW Tour D’Europe – A Short story by Jaroslav Rudi‰ – 54 Then & Now N Czechs in Iran – A Pfiítomnost article from 1939 Letter From… Eric Volkman describes a visit to Latvia – 59 Parting Shots HE William and Democracy – Martin Jan Stránsk˘ – 60 Cover photo: Krist˘na Urbánková and TomበHaman (Graphic layout) T The New Presence is the sister publication of the Czech magazine Pfiítomnost. Both magazines are published by Martin Jan Stránsk˘, grandson of the original publisher of Pfiítomnost, which under renowned editor Ferdinand Peroutka, became inter- war Czechoslovakia’s most widely respected periodical publication. The New Presence is published on a quarterly basis. It features a mixture of original material and translated articles from our sister publication. Due to considerations of space and style, some translated articles may vary in style and/or length from the original. WINTER 2006 1 001_031_TNP_winter 2.1.2006 11:28 Str. 2 (K-ãerná/Process Black plát) EDITOR’S NOTES Dear Readers, yet reshape the country’s television landscape for the better. Frequent contributor Asmara Ghebremichael turns her probing A new year is upon us and I wel- eye to the seemingly never-ending battle of the breweries – name- come you to the very first issue of ly that of Czech Budweiser Budvar company and the American 2006. In this special issue, we take Anheuser-Busch Budweiser company – and looks at the history a look at some of the thorns in the behind their ongoing and often acrimonious trademark dispute. paw of the Czech lion. With Looking further afield, Jaroslav ·onka takes a detailed look at Transparency International’s recent Spain’s transformation from a dictatorship under General Franco damning report, Drahomíra to a modern-day constitutional democracy,and asks whether there Tleskáãová examines the problem are lessons that can be learnt by today’s post-communist countries of political corruption in the Czech from this process. In our special section looking at Bulgaria, Yveta Republic. Libu‰e Bautová touches Kenety remembers a dark and mysterious chapter in the Cold War, upon another thorny issue, that of the Czech pension system, and that of the death of the Bulgarian exile Georgi Markov at the hands asks whether a political compromise can truly be reached and the of a poison-tipped umbrella. Meanwhile, Jordan Vasilev looks at current system can finally be reformed. Meanwhile, Whitney Bulgaria’s recent history and argues that the influence of the Laemmli looks at the role of NGO’s in the Czech Republic and asks Communists is still felt to this day. In a special article, JifiíPehe whether they really are as dangerous as Czech President Václav examines the subject of political and personal responsibility in the Klaus has repeatedly and controversially suggested.As part of our Czech Republic and beyond. We also a short story from the Czech special look at the Czech media, Jan PotÛãek puts Czech public award-winning author Jaroslav Rudi‰,alook at the American ex- radio under the spotlight and argues that this respected institution pat community in Prague, interviews, commentaries and much, is in danger of becoming bland and irrelevant. And in our feature much more.As ever, I hope you will enjoy the magazine. article, writer David Pomerantz takes an in-depth look at the Czech Republic’s television sector, examining how a recent spate of fines levied against the country’s two commercial networks may Dominik JÛn “Hloup˘ kdo dává, hloupûj‰í kdo nebere” “It’s stupid to offer, but even stupider to refuse” – Old Czech proverb. 2 THE NEW PRESENCE 001_031_TNP_winter 2.1.2006 11:29 Str. 3 (K-ãerná/Process Black plát) NEWS ROUNDUP A look at events in the Czech Republic as well as key stories from Central and Eastern Europe from the last few months 4th October 2005 - The Czech Finance Ministry reports crime,border controls,food hygiene and the management of farm a budget surplus of 25.8 billion crowns (873 million Euros) in subsidies.If both countries fall short on the required reforms,their the first nine months of this year, the strongest result since the entry into the EU could be delayed until January 2008. country gained independence in 1993. However, Czech state debt is recorded at a record 662.6 billion Crowns,with a19 31th October 2005 – Following the recent presidential elec- billion crown increase (792 million US dollars) in the third quar- tion in which the conservative candidate Lech Kaczynski ter of 2005. secured a victory,a conservative minority government takes office in Poland. The cabinet is dominated by the traditional- 6th October 2005 – Private doctors around the Czech ist Law and Justice party (PiS), which won last month's elec- Republic stage a one-day strike in protest at repeated late pay- tions pledging to defend Catholic values. The Law and Justice ments by the state-run health insurance company VZP.Around party secured 155 seats in the 460-seat legislature, while the fifteen hundred demonstrators gather in front of the Health Civic Platform - a key member of the minority coalition - Ministry building in Prague including pharmacists,dentists,and obtained 133. Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz’s gov- several politicians from the right-wing opposition Civic ernment ends the rule of former communists and has pledged Democrats. There are numerous calls for the resignation of the to root out corruption. Health Minister Milada Emmerová, who is partly blamed for a cash-flow crisis within the health sector. 2nd November 2005 – Following a series of media reports that the CIA has been keeping terrorism suspects in secret deten- 7th October 2005 – Austrian anti-nuclear activists project tion centres or “black-sites” somewhere in Eastern Europe,the slogans alleging the Czech Temelín nuclear power station is Czech Interior Ministry denies that such facilities could be locat- unsafe onto one of its cooling towers. The protest marks five ed within the Czech Republic.Speculation mounts that the secret years since the launch of the plant, which is around 60 km from prisons could be located in either Romania or Poland. The exis- the border with nuclear-free Austria. tence of such sites, coupled with stories of CIA flights crossing EU territory cause a major transatlantic diplomatic headache for 12th October 2005 – A report by the Organisation for the US. Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) points out that the Czech Republic remains one of the worst polluters 4th November 2005 – Following the dismissal of Milada and least efficient users of energy within the organisation.
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