Czechs brew a kosher beer tradition
23.11.2007 - Ruth Fraňková

When the famous Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal wrote about the Nymburk brewery in his novel "Cutting It Short", he probably didn't expect that one day its beer would make it as far as the Caribbean. Now, beer from the Czech town is also heading for another market. One of its products, which recently received a kosher certificate, will now be sold in Israel.

The new Nitro beer is a rather strong lager with 5.5% alcohol. This year, the Nymburk brewery produced three hundred hectolitres of the foamy kosher beverage. If consumers take to it, the company plans to increase its production. I asked Olga Znaminkova of the Nymburk brewery, who came up with the idea of producing the kosher brand:

“The idea came from our partner in Israel. They wanted to make their own beer according to their own recipe, because they want to increase the market in Israel and the U.S.A. and around the world. That’s why we now make the kosher beer. We had to call the rabbi from the Jewish community in the Czech Republic. He came to our brewery and made an audit in the production. After the audit he issued a certification for us so that we can now produce kosher beer.”

Menachem Kalchaim is a representative of the chief rabinate of Israel issuing kosher certificates. He is also the man who gave his blessing and certification to the latest speciality from Nymburk. I spoke to him on a line from Israel and asked him about the criteria for making ordinary beer “kosher”:

“Basically the criteria are very simple because most of the beers, Czech beers, are kosher, because they are made from four kosher ingredients: barley, yeast, hop and water. Most of the beers that are made of these four ingredients are kosher. Beers that use additives and other things, some other raw materials, have to be checked that they are properly kosher and that they are made in kosher environment. It means not connected totally to all things made of wine and for sure not connected to animals and anything made of animals and any kind of meat and other things made of animals.”

The production of kosher beer is also limited by the time of year. The brewery cannot use barley that was planted before the 31st of March:

“On one of our holidays, Pesach holiday, it is not kosher. If it was planted before the holiday, at least two weeks before the holiday, it’s no problem to use it. If it was planted after the holiday, we should wait for a whole year to use it.”

So far, the Nymburk brewery is not planning to distribute their kosher beer anywhere in the Czech Republic. Beer lovers can either visit the brewery where the beer is available for tasting or travel to Israel.

Poland's new PM sets an ambitious reform agenda
23.11.2007 - Michal Kubicki

Five weeks after Poles voted the conservative Law and Justice party out of office in a snap parliamentary election, Poland has a new government. It was formed by the leader of the victorious Civic Platform, Donald Tusk, who made his first major policy speech to parliament on Friday. Michal Kubicki assesses the new cabinet and asks - what are Poles expecting from this new government?

To start with, it’s a coalition government of the Civic Platform, which has 209 deputies in the 460-seat Parliament, and the Polish Peasant Party, which has 31 deputies. As for labels, there is a slight problem. If the previous Law and Justice cabinet was called conservative, the new one does not differ from it that much on ideological and moral issues while strongly promoting liberal free-market reforms. This is certainly true of the prime minister’s Civic Platform but when it comes to the liberals’ key goal of introducing a single-rate ‘flat tax’, their junior coalition partner says ‘no’. And its position seems to be much stronger than simple arithmetic might suggest. The Peasant Party was given three portfolios, one of which - the economy – is held by its leader Waldemar Pawlak who is also a deputy prime minister.

According to this week’s surveys, three in four Poles think that it’s going to be a good government that will stay in power for the entire four-year parliamentary term. But Poles I spoke to on the streets of Warsaw haven’t forgotten the promises of an economic miracle, modeled on Ireland, made during the election campaign.

"There are many promises made and I hope they will keep their promises and will make everything connected with the Euro 2012 ready on time, because now we’re having big problems with that."

"I strongly believe that the economy will not be influenced that much by political statements because it has its own course and I believe it’ll be good."

"I travel quite a lot and I’d say that although the image of Poland is improving it’s still not the best so the government should take care of that to improve the image of Poland abroad."

Prime Minister Tusk has already pledged to end the regular tussles with other E.U. countries and his foreign minister Radek Sikorski announced a ‘new style’ foreign policy.

What sort of politician is Poland’s new prime minister? Now 50, he describes himself as a ‘stubborn Catholic’. He’s a native Kashubian, an ethnic minority in northern Poland of some 300,000 people. A foot-soldier in the Solidarity movement in the 1980s, he was one of the founders of the Civic Platform party which has consistently promoted liberal economic reforms.

Tusk is known as a great football fan and a good player himself. A former MP wrote the other day on his blog that playing football and meeting friends is more important for Tusk than reading books and holding serious debates with intellectuals. This, plus the fact that he has never held any government post before, is seen by Stanisław Janecki of the weekly Wprost, as his major flaw.

‘It’s the first serious role of Donald Tusk as before he was only chief of the party. It’s an important role but you can be a good party chief and not a good chief of government. I’m afraid Tusk is not the person to be devoted to his public role as much as he is to his role as a friend, football player or father.’

But while admitting Tusk’s lack of experience in an executive position, Łukasz Warzecha of the daily Fakt says that while in opposition Donald Tusk has matured as a politician.

‘He seems to have gained some power, some trust in himself, self-consciousness I think. He has become a harder-minded person, so these are the features of character that would be very useful but what kind of prime minister he will be is difficult to say.’

Donald Tusk is Poland’s 13th prime minister since the collapse of communism in 1989. The challenges ahead of him seem to be more difficult than those of his predecessors. The shape of his relationship with president Lech Kaczynski, the brother of the previous prime minister, will be an important element of Poland’s political landscape under Tusk.

Hungarians first cut the Iron Curtain - now Schengen brings the final act
23.11.2007 - Sandor Laczko

Almost two decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain, another important barrier separating members of the former Eastern block from western Europe is to be lifted. As of December 21st, nine countries that joined the European Union in 2004, including the member states of the Visegrád Group, will be part of the Schengen agreement, a zone without internal border control. Hungary was the first country to breach the old iron curtain - allowing citizens of the former East Germany to travel to Austria from where they could easily continue on to the West. So having pioneered the bringing down of borders - how do Hungarians feel about the final sweeping away of those annoying border checks?

Hungarians wishing to do the last wave of Christmas shopping in Vienna this year will find no border control when crossing over to Austria – something unimaginable for many decades on a border that was once part of the deepest division between East and West: the Iron Curtain. In fact, the timing is not accidental: European politicians wish to hand over Schengen membership as a kind of Christmas present, to be completed in March next year when airports also join the system. Hungarian border guards will disappear from the country’s checkpoints with Slovenia, Austria and Slovakia. What that means in practice is explained by Captain Melinda Moór of the Hungarian Border Guards:

"That will be the Schengen internal border. This border may be crossed at any point, not only through the border-crossing points but anywhere without control. Of course, people will have to carry documents with them because, not strictly at the borders, but there may be police checks or other checks where they have to identify themselves, of course. So – in this respect – border control will be abolished but controls, security controls will not be. This abolishment of border control, of course, means some kind of risks for our national security, so they have to be compensated for. As a consequence, the border guards – and from the first of January, the police – are entitled to carry out checks throughout the territory of the country."

What’s more, – through bilateral agreements – police from neighbouring countries can mutually cross into each others’ territory to chase criminals if necessary. While border control will basically be eliminated in the western and northern borders of Hungary, much stricter control will be applied in the east and south from the Ukraine to Croatia.

"The Schengen external borders [controlled by Hungary] will be 1,100 kilometres long that does not include Romania. Romania is already a member of the European Union but not a member of Schengen. So, a strict border control will be continued but this border control is carried out together with the Romanian authorities. Along Serbia and the Ukraine, of course, a strict border control can be expected, and this is the same case with Croatia."

So, travellers through Hungary’s land borders will be affected by the changes in one way or the other but what about those who cross the borders more frequently as part of their job? MASPED is one of the major cargo transport companies in Hungary. Its managing director, Miklós Horváth, says he – as a travelling businessman – will feel the advantages of Hungary being included in the Schengen zone but the truck drivers may still have to stop at the border:

"We would not expect major changes here because – as we understood this change –, a driver will have the same process as a tourist but the cargo could be checked. And to measure the weight you need facility, and the facility is there already at the border, they can use it, of course. I assume that it might be that the Austrians will keep or maintain some control relating to other regulations of the EU: working time regulations and the technical condition of a vehicle."

So, Hungarian citizens will soon be able to feel the freedom of travelling in most parts of Europe without border controls, completing a process that started with their compatriots letting East Germans pass over to Austria and cutting the barbed wire of the old Iron Curtain.

Slovakia says alcohol abuse constitutes its main drug problem
23.11.2007 - Michal Groch

Slovak authorities says alcohol is the country's number one drug problem. What's more, alcohol abuse among young people is on the increase. Michal Groch reports from Radio Slovakia International.

The survey was presented at a press conference that was part of the European week in the fight against drugs. Despite the fact that the conference should have been about drug abuse in general, it was mainly focused on alcohol. Head of the media and marketing department of the Slovak Medical University opened up the conference with an explanation why the major attention was dedicated to the problem of alcohol abuse in Slovakia.

“We don’t want to push the rest of the drug scene aside. But it is a matter of fact that alcohol is our number one drug problem which we have to solve and which takes an immense amount of money. Alcohol is also connected to a large number of serious crimes like murders or rapes, but it is also the trigger for the disintegration of many families."

The main goals of the survey were then presented by Robert Ochaba – head of the tobacco and alcohol control center from the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic.

“Our goals were to find out more about experiences of young people with alcohol, their attitudes towards alcohol and their level of knowledge about the possibility of alcoholism. Our goal was also to investigate relationships between the consumption of alcohol by the family members, and their consumption of alcohol and also to investigate the impact of their surroundings and friends.”

I managed to have a word with Mr Ochaba a few days after the press conference. He was eager to answer questions that hadn’t been answered at the press conference. Is there any trend in consumption of alcohol in Slovakia?

“The trend here is clear. The consumption of alcohol among young people has increased. We can also observe that the first experience with alcohol happens earlier than before and it has moved before the age of 15. This is very alarming information."

What has to be done in order to improve this situation?

“There is a great challenge in terms of prevention that lies ahead of us. Legislation offers a vast space for improvement. For example we need a new amendment to the law on protection from alcoholism so that we can better protect the young from the effects of alcohol. Another major improvement can be achieved by raising taxes on alcohol beverages that would decrease the availability of alcohol for young people.”

If you compare the current situation in Slovakia with other European countries…?

“More than 60% of the adult population in Slovakia has been using alcohol in the last 30 days according to data from Eurostat, which is basically average. Denmark has been on the top with the highest consumption of alcohol in the last 30 days, while Hungary was at the bottom.”

Alcohol is the world’s second biggest killer after tobacco products.

Political turmoil makes Slovenes nervous ahead of EU presidency
23.11.2007 - Michael Manske

After a recent presidential election revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the current government, Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Janša called for a vote of confidence in parliament. The announcement sent markets tumbling and, as Michael Manske reports, unnerved the country as it approaches the EU presidency.

After the opposition-supported presidential candidate Danilo Tuerk swept to victory in recent elections, the government made the surprise announcement of holding a vote of confidence in parliament. Prime Minister Janez Janša criticized what he called the "unhelpful attitude" of the opposition, and with Slovenia's imminent takeover of presidency of the EU, decried the embattled state of the government. Janša:

"The government and the government coalition in this project remains obviously more or less alone."

Of particular concern was the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) which is currently part of the government, but was seen as wavering in its support. However, when the vote of confidence came, all coalition parties firmly backed the government in a 51 to 33 vote. The vote was decidedly partisan, which also drew criticism from the Prime Minister. Janša:

"At this moment there is obviously no one who would want to help the coalition or who would want to replace it, despite the offer to do so."

The opposition, meanwhile, lost the vote but found encouragement in the recent presidential results and in polls. Opinion polls continue to put the opposition social democrats in first place, and parliamentary elections are looming.

In the meantime, parliamentarian Matej Lahovnik of the opposition party Zares brushed aside calls for »unity« before the EU presidency, saying it was the duty of the opposition to challenge the government.

Lahovnik: "For one week the government was only occupied with itself and all the drama that we witnesed was unnecessary and it would have been better if the governmnet would have been involved in more serious things."

Slovenia assumes the EU presidency in January.