Press Review
The papers have all come out with dramatic headlines today: Terror of letter bombs in the EU, says Mlada Fronta Dnes, reporting on extensive security measures now in force in all EU institutions. Lidove Noviny reports on the outcome of a police investigation according to which the former Czechoslovak foreign minister Jan Masaryk did not commit suicide in 1948 but was murdered by KGB agents. While Pravo has reserved much of its front page for what it calls "a calamity" on Czech roads and airports in the wake of heavy snow.
Another hot topic is the foreign ministry's criticism of US anti-terrorist measures which include fingerprinting of all Czechs who step on US soil. While the Czech cabinet is reportedly considering retaliatory measures, commentators are inclined to be more benevolent. Having one's fingerprints and picture taken is an insult to one's dignity - but it is certainly not a violation of one's rights and freedoms, says Karel Steigerwald in Mlada Fronta Dnes. A much better example of violated rights is latent racism in Czech courts, Steigerwald adds for good measure.
Hospodarske Noviny agrees that the US anti-terrorist measures should be tolerated with good grace. The US is basically a country at war and we should not be surprised to see it behaving accordingly, the paper says. For a tourist to the US the measures may be somewhat humiliating, but visitors should simply take them as a sign of the world we are living in today. The rules here were set by terrorists, not the US authorities, the paper says.
On a lighter topic, Mlada Fronta Dnes writes that mobile operators in the Czech Republic acquired some 300.000 new clients this Christmas. Czechs have become addicted to mobile phones, the paper says, noting that only 6 out of 100 Czechs do not have one. Also many people use a private phone as well as a work mobile, paid for by their firm, Mlada Fronta Dnes says.
The paper has two other stories of interest. One is the outcome of a survey that shows that Moravians and people living in the Pardubice region east of Prague are the biggest patriots in the Czech Republic. People living in these areas take huge pride in their roots and traditions, the paper says -as opposed to the inhabitants of Prague who do not generally harbour strong feelings on the matter.
And finally, the paper reports that the former president Vaclav Havel will spend three to four months of this year in the United States, travelling and giving lectures. Mr. Havel is expected to leave for the United States sometime in April but the paper has been unable to obtain any details about his plans - except that he will be accompanied by his wife Dagmar.
