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In his first (as-yet-unnamed) review of Czech news and blogs, Scott MacMillan tackles Nobel prize nominees and nuclear fallout shelters.

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By Scott MacMillan
Fri 10th Oct, 2003 [updated Sun 12th Oct, 2003]		 Add to favorites email print this article Share on FaceBoook

Václav Havel’s being a sport about getting passed over – again – for the Nobel Peace Prize. On the heels of Friday’s announcement that the Oslo committee feted Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi with the $1.32 million award, Havel’s secretary Jakub Hladík quickly issued a statement that the former president is as pleased as punch. Havel’s name comes up perennially as a possible Prize recipient, and many thought he’d finally snag it this year. (Apparently the committee thought it better to encourage democratic change in the future rather than celebrate the past.)

Fellow anti-Communist crusader Lech Walesa, on the other hand, was pretty peeved about the selection, but not because Havel didn’t get it. His personal favorite was Pope John Paul II. “I do not want to call into question the committee’s choice,” said Walesa, while making it clear that he strongly questioned the committee’s choice. Weirdo.

In other Czech news, the government is making noises about fixing Prague’s metro so it can be used as a fallout shelter – this time, really - in the unlikely event of nuclear war. Built by the communists, the metro included a network of safety shelters should the imperialist Americans decide to nuke Prague. Lucky for us, the communists went on permanent leave and events never conspired to put the metro to such a test – until last August, when the floods revealed that the underground bunkers couldn’t even withstand the Vltava floodwaters, let alone the Bomb.

Prague deputy mayor Rudolf Blažek thinks the idea is silly, and isn’t too keen on the National Security Council’s recommendation that the City of Prague chip in 420 million Kè for the safety system.

Právo ran a story yesterday about a Czech 12-year-old whose disappearance sent helicopters and 80 cops on a manhunt on Tuesday. It turns out the boy had been playing video games at a friends house, where he then slept over. Think the kid’s grounded? (Picked up via Radio Prague.)

Also dominating the papers this week was the story of 29-year-old businessman Zdenìk Bulawa, a drunk driver who rammed his Mercedes into one of those little Czech cop cars, killing all three officers inside. Bulawa has a broken leg and faces up to 10 years in jail.

The incident, coming during a rainy weekend in which a frightening 34 people died in car accidents across the Republic, has sparked outrage and much talk of tightening the country’s road regulations.

Apparently an unsavory sort, Bulawa has 34 previous convictions, Právo reported Wednesday (also via Radio Prague). Police are also charging Bulawa with blackmail (he apparently tried to influence witnesses) and his 17-year-old female companion with failure to provide aid at the scene of an accident. Czech blogger Petr Bokuvka comments: “I hope the SOB never walks again. I hope he never moves again, just like Christopher Reeve. I hope he pisses in a plastic bag for the rest of his life.”

Last weekend’s EU summit in Rome, kicking off the final round of talks over the Union’s future constitution, fomented debate in Czech Parliament. The europhile Social Democrats, just barely clinging to power, are miles away on the issue from the euroskeptic opposition ODS. The press bemoans the lack of consensus, with some pushing for a public referendum on the EU constitution. “We are losing already because of the two camps' inability to agree,” writes a commentator in Lidové Noviny, pointing to the “yawning ideological gap” between the two parties. (Translation via the BBC’s European press review.)

Radio Prague also picked up the Mláda fronta Dnes story about the Republic of Herspice, the Brno district that has decided to secede from the country. No word on whether the new state will apply for EU membership.

I’d like to express woe and sadness over the fact that the Czech news site Czech Happenings appears to have discontinued its English-language press review. By the way, this weekly review of the English-language Czech press and blogs, appearing from today onward every Friday only on Prague TV, is searching for a name.

Submit your ideas to: content@prague.tv

Scott MacMillan is a freelance journalist based in Prague. He is an owner of Tulip Cafe and an occasional contributor to Slate magazine.
Article added on Fri 10th Oct, 2003 [last updated Sun 12th Oct, 2003]

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