Word: vaclav
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...even in middle Europe, a backlash is causing trouble. In Czechoslovakia, Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus is pursuing a rapid move to free markets -- he pioneered the voucher scheme for privatizing state industry that Russia now proposes to copy -- at the price of agreeing to a date of Jan. 1 for splitting the nation into separate Czech and Slovak republics. Slovak insistence on breaking up the union is fueled partly by ethnic animosity, often expressed as resentment of a "big brother" arrogance on the part of the Czechs. But it also reflects the Prague government's refusal to keep subsidizing such...
...deepest layer of Prague is spiky, medieval, dark with coal dust. For years Vaclav Havel could look out from his dilapidated apartment building, across the fast, shallow Vltava River, and see the castle on the hill -- Hradcany, the high, elaborate complex that dominates the city. He could cross the river by the 14th century Charles Bridge, lined on either side with beseeching, tormented statuary -- church fathers, age-blackened saints...
INTERVIEW: Vaclav Havel's Future...
When the "velvet revolution" brought democracy to his country in 1989, Vaclav Havel hoped a strong and unified Czechoslovakia would help anchor a peaceful postcommunist Central Europe. Last week Havel's vision finally faded when Slovakia's parliament split the country by declaring its sovereignty. Moments later Havel stepped down as President of Czechoslovakia, giving up a long struggle to broker a federal power-sharing agreement. He may well be the leading candidate when the separate Czech Republic establishes the new office of president...
Less than three years after Czechoslovakia's "velvet revolution," the country announced the preliminary terms of a "velvet divorce." Slovak Vladimir Meciar and Czech Vaclav Klaus, whose parties gained pluralities in their respective republics in elections earlier this month, agreed last week to form an interim federal government. It will function chiefly as a liquidation committee for the 74-year-old state, and by Sept. 30 the details creating separate Czech and Slovak republics should be ironed...