Press Review
All of today's Czech dailies take full note of neighbouring Slovakia's weekend referendum on EU accession, in which low voter turn-out almost derailed an otherwise overwhelmingly pro-EU decision. Of the Slovaks who voted, 92 percent voted for accession, while just 6 percent voted against. Still, voter turn-out overall leaves something to be desired: only 52 percent of eligible voters took part in the plebiscite, a mere 2 percent higher than the minimum threshold. MLADA FRONTA DNES writes that after the dramatic results were released an enthusiastic Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda announced "We've drawn a Slovak star onto the European Union flag".
The results are significant for Czechs, who themselves shall go to the polls on EU accession in one month's time, but no-less significant for this country are planned public finance reforms, agreed on by the government. The financial daily HOSPODARSKE NOVINY writes that on Sunday government representatives agreed on the means of saving around 80 billion crowns by 2006. Among the planned reforms: raising consumption tax, which will raise the added cost on some services from the previous 5 to 22 percent.
Another aspect include various cuts in social support. Not everyone is happy with the planned reforms, especially union leaders: HOSPODARSKE NOVINY quotes one of them as issuing a warning over the weekend, saying the country was headed for trouble, if the government only made cuts and failed to look for new sources of revenue.
Meanwhile, trouble is what one man, photographed on the cover LIDOVE NOVINY, went looking for Saturday and trouble is exactly what he got. The man, an aggressive football fan, shown trying to fight his way away from two guards, climbed over the fence during a Bohemians-Sparta match and threw several punches at assistant referee Ladsislav Talpa. Not surprisingly, the match was immediately called-off, and police are taking the incident seriously. Although, the man managed to slip away soon afterwards, police have issued a warrant for his arrest. He will apparently be charged with disorderly and riotous conduct.
For those with enough energy to spare - how about a 20 kilometre trek? That's what many Czechs did on Saturday, including President Vaclav Klaus, in keeping with a long personal as well as public tradition, writes MLADA FRONTA DNES. The paper notes that organisers have annually prepared the trek to Prcice for 38 years now, with this year offering several different routes, including one from Prague that was 70 kilometres long. Check-points along the way validated hikers' walks.
The president himself made the trek from the town of Votice to the village of Prcice, a 23 km hike that ends close to where the president has a family cottage. He was flanked by dozens of well-wishers, two bodyguards, as well as some presidential office staff. At one point he even good-naturedly teased his new assistant Daniela Kralova that she could go swimming in one of the ponds along the route, with bathing suit, or even without, writes MLADA FRONTA DNES.
