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NO 5/2009195,- CZK
www.leadersmagazine.czincl. electronic version
now available in Brussels
Prague City Hall
Conference dedicated to the 400th death anniversary of signi
cant Jewish Rabbi, Yehuda Loew ben Becalel (also known as the
Maharal)...
X page 133
Rabbi LoewsPath of Life
EU Matters
X page 100
Comenius
X page 70
Interview
X page 80
National Theatre
X page 122
Despite the fact that the Round Table took place shortly after
the Constitutional Court put hold...
Prime Minister Fischer stressed the dif cult condi-tions Czech
Presidency had to deal with as well as the 80 concrete measures
Presidency agreed...
An interview with Ivana Ulmanov, Chairwoman of the Board of
Directors of the Automotodrom Brno joint-stock company...
Zeyers dramatic poem Radz and Mahulena, directed by J. A.
Pitnsky reappeared on the scene of the National Theater...
Round Table of Comeniuswith Mr. Jakub ebesta, Minister of
Agriculture of the Czech Republic at Top Hotel...
Czech Prime MinisterJan Fischer in European Parliament
Business On TheRacetrack
Radz a MahulenaOn the 18th of June
FAMILY MEDICAL CENTRE
MUDr. Barbara TauovCanadian Medical Carephoto:CMC (Canadian
Medical Care)
ma
ga
zi
ne
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COVERING TOP PRAGUE EVENTSLEADERS MAGAZINE
For Full Photocoverage Go To
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For further information please contact:
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An interview with Alexandr Herda, Vice President Europe, U.S.
Rest and Shop
More guests in the hotels and restaurants are coming back
because we are offering to them ssoommeetthhiinngg tthheeyy
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ppllaannnneedd selection of the elite partners, we found out more
from Alexandr Herda, Vice President of the company for Europe.
Leaders Magazine V/20094
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We Choose Our Partners
CAREFULLY
www.restandshop.cz
-
Your company is entering the market in dif cult times, but with
a revolutionary ap-proach to business. You are offering the hotels
Travel Retail Services. What exactly does it mean?
You are right, we are the rst to come with this revolutionary
business strategy which quite es-sentially generates higher demand
for premiumhotels and restaurants from the side of guests and on
top of that enhances their standard range of services. In Europe,
we are the only one who offers this kind of service and we do it
only for selected ve star hotels and carefullyselected four star
hotels as well as internation-ally recognized restaurants. Our goal
is to makeththee bebestst o off ththeieirr ststayay i inn ththee
hohotetel;l; s strtricictltlyy spspeaeakk-ing we are able to
provide them something even further than accommodation and
catering. We can offer them another supplementary service that is
not offered by hotels and which subse-quently brings them
relatively high pro t. Our know-how basically means that with this
series of bene ts which cannot be refused we will be able to gain
new guests, keep the current guests longer and make them spend
more, and in addi-tion to bring them back next time as well. We are
sure that this business strategy will be welcomeby the elite.
You are talking about the bene ts. So you provide a feeling of
exclusivity to the guest?
With our services we create some kind of an With our services we
create some kind of anemotional bond between the guest and the
subject. Let me give you an example, if you visited a restaurant 6
months ago you have no chance to remember it if something
excep-tional did not happen there. And that is what we want to
offer to the customer, something which is not usual at other
places. According to our research approximately 25 percent of the
customers who use four and ve star hotels or restaurants react to
our new servicepositively, so this is the percentage which we can
add to their pro t. But it is not only emo-titiononalal b
bonondsds;; ththee fafactct i iss ththatat t thehe g gueuestst p
perer-ceives in a positive manner those who offer him more than
competitors.
Where was the whole project born and why did you choose Prague
for your European headquarters?
Our mother company comes from the USA; it is a fellowship of the
private lobbyist groups which are largely linked to the hospitality
sec-tor. We all know very well that occupancy of the hotels is
decreasing not only here but in the USA as well. Our investor was
really inter-ested to change that situation. Therefore there was a
conference held, where the investors,
as well as the hotel and restaurant manage-ment presented their
ideas and the goals of the new model were de ned. That was the
be-ginning of the creation of the Rest and Shop revolutionary y
conceived strategygy, prp eppared by ythe top management and
marketing profes-sionals in the world, for the hotels like Hilton
and Marriott and others in that category, to be able to keep them
on top. And why Europe and Prague? Partly because Europe is the
most intricate market due to the language and customary
differences. The amazing quality about our project is that it can
work across all those barriers. And especially because Prague is
the centre of Europe, it has a high number of ve star hotels which
especially today have fairly big problems to earn their living. By
our action we would like to help them not to have empty rooms and
restaurants.
You focus on the elite hotels. Are there any general criteria of
acceptance?
Our professionals set twenty conditions for the hotels and
thirty for the restaurants and I must say that they are strict. I
dare to say that out of the whole market we accept approxi-mately
ten percent. Currently, our inspectors (we have about 250 of them
only for the Czech Republic), are already working on the
selec-tion. But we know that with the rst premium hotels we will
negotiate better starting posi-tion. This rst group we will
strongly present in the media as well (PARTNERS ON BOARD) locally y
and abroad, , i.e. for the gguests and tra-vel agencies, this will
be a clear signal that the hotel belongs to the elite, cares for
their guests and has something that the competition does not. Which
is something what is crucial today, when everybody can choose and
the offer is bigger than demand.
It means that you will refuse to cooperate with 90% of the
hotels and restaurants only to keep the exclusivity of the service
and be able to distinguish the selected ones from their competitors
which do not make it through your sieve?
Yes, that s the rule.
Who belongs to your European team?We have approximately 450
contract workers
and we are planning about 30 employees at our Prague
headquarters which we took over from Julius Mainl grg oup p in
Pragug e, on top p of that we cooperate with some advisors, namely
for example with Mr. Eric F.J. van Dal who is in charge of the
international hotel chains.
The times are dif cult; people are suspi-cious to something new.
Do you think that this is the right time for you?
We are sure about that! Just realize that hotels occupancy was
set to 50 to 70 % and suddenly they are sometimes getting below the
line of 20 %. And at that time the solu-tion is coming which can
reduce the fall. Weare sure that at the time when your income is
going down the product which distinguishesyou from others is always
welcome. Our busi-ness model brings more guests, creates loyal ness
model brings more guests creates loyalcustomers, enables us to get
the guests to therestaurants of the hotel as well as others andby
all that, we dramatically increase the pro t of our partners.
There is one more but on my mind, will you not tamper the image
of the hotel by or-dering or directing them how to work?
There is a very simple answer to that. If we chose the hotel or
restaurant which we willcooperate with, everything will be settled
inthe contract accepted by both sides. In the contract, there will
be exactly de ned termsand borders of what we can and must,,
andwhat the selected hotel or restaurant can and must do. You know,
we are a supplement of their service or product but we, in no case,
intervene in somebody s image. It is similar to a manager being a
member of the RotaryClub. This community does not diminish
hisprestige in no way; on the contrary one thing strengthens the
other.
By Vlasta Holciov
Rest and Shop bene ts for partnersFOR HOTELS: FOR RESTAURANTS:
Higher preferences of the guest when booking Higher occupancy Guest
also visits the hotel restaurant* Customer returns at least once
more* Increase in pro t and turnover up to 20 % per year Increase
in pro t and turnover up to 20 % per year Distinguishing from
competitors Distinguishing from competitors
* real % may differ
Leaders Magazine V/VV 2009 5
esk peklad naleznete v elektronick verzi magaznu na
www.leadersmagazine.cz
U.S. REST AND SHOP, organizan slokaOffice Centrum Libesk
pivovarU Libeskho pivovaru 63, 180 00 Praha 8
-
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believe thththatatat qqquuuite mmmananany y y ofofof our
readddererers ss willll b b be e e heheheadadadininingg g ttot the
foreststststs sss trttrtryiyiyiy ngngngng t t to get t tt aasaa
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pposososossisisisiblblblbleeee. I dononononttt knknknknow
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naaattutut re. . DDeDeDeararar C C CCzeeechchc peo lplplpleee
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dd durururinining thththe ee laaattter part ooof f f summmmmmererer
ww we hahahaveveve mm manananaged ttto o o cococoveveverr
quuuititite manyy innntererresesestitit ngngng ee eveveventntntsss
to ssshohohowww yoyoyou in ttthihihiss s isisissususue e e oofof
the LLLeeaeadededersr Magagagazazazinnine.e.e. TT To oo mmem
ntnttiooon some; Jaaazzzz aat thehehe C C Casasastltltle e e
wiwiwith the llegegegenenendadadaryryry H HHananankk k Jones,
PPPeere uu u NaNN tionalalal D DDayayay, ,, SlSlSlovovovakaakia
Natatatiooonananall DaDaDay,y,y, C C Coomo ennniuiuius ss RRoR und
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AgAgAgririricucucultltlturururee e MrMrMr.. . JaJaJakukukubb b
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sttstudududenenentststs ff frororom mm vavavariririououous ss
cococounntrtrieies.s.
Wee h havave e mamanyy i interestingng intntere viewwss lilikeke
M Mrsrs. MgMgr. JJururskov PhPh D.D,, MiM nisteer oof f HeH alth
CCaare,, MMrsrs. PhPhDrDr.. KKopicovv, MMinnister of
EdEducucaation, Yououthh a andnd S Spoportrtss, M Mr.r. P Pavveel
Brabec, PPresis dedentn ooff Accraa ( (AsA sosociciatatioionn ofof
C zezecch Adverttisisingng A genccieies)s), PrProfof.. InIngg.
HaHavlvlekek, , Reectctor CVUUT,T, PPhDr. Onddeej eernrn,, G
Genenereralal Direcectotor NaNatitionalal T Theheaatre, Mr.
StSteffanan F Flle,e, M Mininisisteterr fofor r EuE roroppean
Affairsrs, MrM . Kor, ChChaiairmrmann o off ththee
AsAssosociatatioon of the CCzezechch Film Clubbs,s,Inng.g
Flandndererovov,, f foormemerr Districtct GGovovernor Lionns
Clubub, , JUJUDrDr. VlVla-a-diimimirr ErErmamakkov, C Comompany
Presisideentnt a ndd I Ingng. HuHugogo K Kysilkaka, Vice President
for Marketing of the Gas Company Vemex tomention some of them.
I am proud to say that our web page is getting better and better
and within a short time we will also have a special
cooperation with MediaTel. Thanks to Media Tel and their vast
information ability we will have additional
content, for example connection to their Travel Guidein three
languages, English, German and Czech.
Our electronic version of the magazine is now read by people
from 98 countries according to the Google analytic system. We have
monthly around
20.000 page viewers. This is an excellent promo-tion of whats
going on in the Czech Republic, both
our coverage of important events and interviews of top level
personalities from the business, politics and
culture sphere.Dear readers, I hope you will appreciate and like
this September
issue and I wish you a great autumn. Hopefully you will find
many of those delicious hidden treasures (mushrooms) in the
forest.
Yooururs s sisincerelly,y,
Benke AAiA kekekellll bebennke.aikell@l@leaeaded
rsmaagagazinee.c.czz
wwwwww.leleadaderersmsmagagazazininee.czcz
Dear Readers,
6 LeLeLeadadadeere s MaMaMagagg ziziinenene VVV/ 2/ 2/ 200000
9
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Benkee AAikekek ll
the good things in life 44 Japan
events40 Provident Financial The Best Woman of the Region 200950
Lions Club Prague Eagle Celebrate 20 years Anniversary at Castle
Blatn66 Round Table of Comenius with Prime Minister Mr. Jan Fischer
at the Hotel Pyramida70 Round Table of Comenius with Mr. Jakub
ebesta, Minister of Agriculture of the Czech Republic at the Top
Hotel74 Round Table of Comenius with the founder of TOP 09 Mr.
Miroslav Kalousek86 Blue Mammoth Arrives at the Blue Key School92
Jazz at the Castle with Trio Hank Jones106 Lions Club Prague
Bohemia Ambassador110 Top Sporting Golf Event at eladn114 Farewell
to Jaap and Leny Aardse117 Effectconsulting Is Celebrating 15 Years
on the Market118 18th International Youth Leadership Conference133
Rabbi Loews Path of Life136 Through Public Castings Right into the
Parliament
contributors9 I S /9 I Swear.../I Pil Ivan Piln13 The Great
Captains of Our Lives/s Karin Genton L'Eppe23 Due to Politicized
Justice in the CR the World Famous Bertramka Monument
Is Closing Down/Roland Heigger60 The Energy-Climate Crisis Is
Your Business Part X: Grassoline Biofuels the
Right Way1/James A. Cusumano, PhD.89 Czech As a Bridge Between
Continents/ The Czechoslovak Foreign Institute90 Global Demography
Opportunity or Ticking Bomb?/Jan Muehlfeit96 The Main Causes of the
Financial Crisis and some Possible Remedies/Vincent
J. Derudder138 Assembly of Barristers/JUDr. Roman Jelnek
diplomatic events24 National Day of Slovakia at ofn Palace28
Farewell to the Norwegian Ambassador H.E. Peter Raeder and his Wife
Inger Melhuus Raeder127 188th Anniversary of the Independence of
Peru130 Commemoration ofo the Visit of Benedict XVI to Israel
page 66 Comenius with Prime Minister Jan Fischer
page 133 Rabbi Loew's Path of Life
7881 78 81
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culture events49 Nekoneno (Infinite)121 Summer of Prague
Symphony Orchestra122 Radz a Mahulena124 The End of Season125
Extrm126 Press Conference of the Openning of the 127th Theatre
Season of the National Theatre
interviews4 We Choose Our Partners Carefully An interview with
Alexandr Herda, Vice President Europe, U.S. Rest and Shop
10 11 Years of Canadian Medical Care in Prague An interview with
MUDr. Barbara Tauov and Jan Oberman, Canadian Medical Care in
Prague
14 The Rising Star of the Aviation World TURKISH AIRLINES An
interview with Fatma Yuceler, Turkish Airlines General Manager for
the Czech Republic and Slovakia
16 Research and Development Is The Only Way An interview with
Miroslava Kopicov, Minister of Education
18 Judge Rwanda An interview with Judge Robert Fremr about his
experience with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
20 Switching from Diplomacy to Politics An interview with tefan
Fle, Minister for European Affairs
32 VEMEX About Us and Natural Gas An interview with JUDr.
Vladimr Ermakov, Company President and Ing. Hugo Kysilka,
Vice-President for Marketing
34 Teaching Is the Meaning of my Life An interview with
Professor Vclav Havlek, Rector of the Czech Technical University in
Prague
36 Radar Base Still Put on Ice An interview with Jan Kohout,
Minister of Foreign Affairs
38 Theatre Can Look Into Human Soul, Open it and Explore it An
interview with Ondej ern, Managing Director of the National
Theeatre
46 The Genuine Legend of Film Art An interview with Vclav
Vorlek, one of the most successful Czech FilmFFFF
Directors and Screenwriters
54 There Is no Such Thing As Originality An interview with David
Radok, Stage Director
56 It Is our Mission to Help and to Serve An interview with Jana
Flanderov, the Former District Governor of thee Lions Club in the
Czech Republic and Slovakia
58 Effective Advertising? ...Witty and True! A talk about Ethics
and Creativity in Advertising with Pavel Brabec, Prresident of the
Association of Czech Advertising Agencies and Marketing
Communication
62 Spreading their Wings Prague-based Grossmann Jet Service
s.r.o. Is Branching out in a Growing Market An interview with
Dagmar Grossmann, CEO, Grossmann Jet Service sppol. s r.o.
64 I Care Very Much About the Fees Preservation in our Health
Care An interview with Dana Jurskov, Minister of Health Care
80 Business on the Racetrack, Sponsoring and Corporate Events as
Targgeted Marketing An interview with Ivana Ulmanov, Chairwoman of
the Board of Directtors of the Automotodrom Brno joint-stock
Company
82 Gourmet or Gourmand? Working at the Hotel Palace Prague Is
for mee Something Like Acting in the National Theatre An interview
with Miroslav Hudek, legendary Maitre dHotel of the Hotel Palace
Prague
84 Our Main Goal Is to Present Film as Art and a Communication
Instrumment An interview with Petr Kor, Chairman and Statutory
Representative oof the Association of the Czech Film Clubs
112 Technological Openness Is CrucialA Ann inintetervrvieieww
wiwithth esestmtmrr P Paiaill, C Chihiefef E Exexecucutitiveve O
Offfficicerer o off PIPIKEKE E Elelectctroronnninicc
page 40 The Best Woman of the Region 2009
108111
page 118 18th International Youth Leadership Conference
EU matters97 Business News98 The Basis of the Development of
Every Region is Support for Science and Research. An interview with
Even Toenovsk, European Parliament
100 Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer in European
Parliament1011111 0 Czech Prime Minister Jalimate are Todays Coal
and Steel10101010100101101 2 EU Chief: Energy and Cs104 The
lobbyist in Brussels Must Simply Have a Suitcase Full
o f Arguments I of nstead o MoneyPetr Osvald (CSSD)
RepresentativePetr Osvald (CSSD), Representative An interview with
Ing P An interview with Ing. P
o f the Czech Republic
-
Leaders Magazine is member of
We are pleased to announce that we have considerably extended
Leaders Magazine spread to include 80 topnotch restaurants in
Prague.
Publisher: Benke Aikell
Contributors: Villiam Bucher, MF DNES, Vanessa Bulkacz,
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Ph.D., Zuzana Kaskov, Zuzana Krchav, Tom Nmeek, Jan Muehlfeit,
EurActiv,
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Photographers:Jakub Hnvkovsk, Tom Jacko,
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Youuu cacacan n n nd ttthehehe M M Magagagazazazininine innn t
thehehese ne ee rereressstaaua rants: (tetetelllephphphonononee e
nununumbmbmbererer ff fororor rr reseseservaaatititiooon)
Total circulation: cca 18.000 bi-monthly includingelectronic
version.
Readership total: cca 500.000
Leaders Magazine is sent as a compli-ment to: Those who are the
most in u-ential, powerful and af uent readersin the Czech
Republic. To represen-tatives of the businesssphere, diplo-matic
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SA business class & VIP lounges of Prague aiport. We are also
cooperating with Prague City Hall, Czech Invest, Czech Centre,
ThThee CzCzeech Medicacal ChChamambeber,r, a allll C
Chaham-bebersrs o off Commerercece,, FoForurumm FrF
anncocophoneAfAfffairreses, , eesksk MaManaersskk AAssociace, CMCMC
C GrGradaduaatete School ofof B Bususininesess,s, UnUniversityy o
of NeNew w York iinn PrPragagueue, , AnAnglglo Americann S
Schooooll, U Uniniveversrsitity of Pitttsts--buburggh,h, C
CEEEELILI I Insnstititututee, Lions Clubbs,s, RoRotatary CCluubs,
The PrPragagueue Societyy f foor InInt.t. C Cooooperation,
CZCZECCHH TOTOPP 10100,0, Czecchh 10100 Bestst, CEBRE,
Eurotele-graph, The Senate, Minister of Agricul-ture, Minister of
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For sale in Luxor Bookstore at Vclavsk nmst.
Leaders s MaMagagazine is avvaiailable e inin a allll rooms oof
ttheesese t topop s statar nene h hototelels sandd ththheieie rrr
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numbebeber foff rr r rrereservation)ArArAriaiaia Hoototeeel
Coda restaurant 225 334 791Coda restaurant 225 334 791
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685
-
The future members of the medical profes-sion take the
Hippocratic Oath during thegraduation ceremony. The majority of
doctorstake this oath seriously. Some of them are more efficient,
more successful, others less, but apart from certain exceptions
they taketheir work as a mission, not as a job.
Greed, striving for maximum profit andcros ising off tethihicall
bboundda iries b by a nu bmber off managers has led 33 MBA students
at Harvard University to an idea of a similar oath. In the current
economic crisis people ask who is re-sponsible for all that. The
victims, in a number of cases the rightful ones, were
bankers,financiers and punters. The blaming finger points also at
managers at top positions whose astronomical salaries seem
inappro-priate and unearned. The amount of money often does not
correspond with the results of the company they direct. There are
students from more than 25 economic schools and universities in the
United States that have supported the creation of the MBA graduates
oath. They want the MBA graduates to be respected for their
integrity, professional ap-proach and leadership features. They
want the MBA title not to be connected and charac-terized by the
striving for personal benefit withno respect to ethics. The study
at economic schools and universities should not be the means of
unscrupulous enrichment.
These thoughts have brought me to the sphere of politics. Our
deputies take a depu-ties oath. It is short, they promise to be
loyal to the Czech Republic, its laws and constitu-tion. In
practice they easily breach the consti-tution and do not care a
damn about the laws. They have their parliamentary immunity
tilltheir death which they have not given up yet despite all
promises. The oath is given to thewhole nation. In practice it
means to their friends, debtors, family members, sometimes to their
party which they stand for and which has crowded them to the wall.
They take it certainly when fully awake, not affected bycheap
liquor from the deputies canteen. They work in accordance with
their conscience, which allows the deputy leader of one party to
admit publicly that he bought his flat from the deputies refunds.
He stands for the
elections again. In Great Britain, an imme-diate resignation and
practical dissolution of a political party follows when a MP uses
the money from tax payers to expel moles from his garden. Someone
has remarked: If I see two equally able surgeons, I will certainly
choose the one who respects the Hippocratic Oath. If we follow this
idea when dropping our suffrage into the electoral urn, I am
afraid
that it is necessary to call New balls! likein a tennis
match.
By Ivan Piln President of Tuesday Business Network
Former Chairman of Czech Telecom
In partnership with Leaders Magazine
Leaders Magazine V/VV 2009 9
Photo: Vladimr Weiss
I SWEAR...
esk peklad naleznete v elektronick verzi magaznu na
www.leadersmagazine.cz
-
An interview with MUDr. Barbara Tauov and Jan Oberman, Canadian
Medical Care in Prague
MUDr. Barbara Tauov graduated from the Medical School of Masaryk
University in Brno in 1986. She worked at the Institutefor the Care
of Mother and Child and in 1993 founded a private medical centre
Childs Ambulance. She is a member of the Czech,American and
Canadian Paediatric Society. Jan Oberman has been working in health
services at several positions since 1990 and in partnership with
MUDr. Tauov he established the private medical facility Canadian
Medical Care (CMC) in 1998. Currently the CMC has around 80
employees of which are 40 doctors of various specializations. It
registers over 20.000 individual clients in its database and at its
workplaces in Prague 6 and Prague 4 it treats around 1.700 clients
every month. The CMC also provides health supervision at social and
sport events and organizes courses of rst aid for public.
11 YEARS OF CANADIAN Medical Care in Prague
What were the beginnings of the CMC? Previously there was a
pneumology clinic with
150 beds here. In 1993 we decided that thefoundation of a centre
for foreigners would be the appropriate supplement of the existing
care. We thus made terms with the Canadian company MedEmerg that
founded a private centre of
outpatient care for foreigners in Prague. This medical service
differed a lot from the care of general practitioners provided in
our country so far. It was based on partnership and dialogue with
patient with the aim to help them at most and take care of them.
The range of treatments and abilities of Canadian physicians in
the
fundamentals of gynaecology, surgery, ENT andalso ophthalmology
were then and still are an example of excellent approach for us.
However, soon it turned out that their visions on further
development differed greatly from ours. In theend we agreed on the
cancellation of the con-tract. We took over their clinic under the
name
Jan ObermanCanadian Medical Care in Prague
Photos: Vladimr Weiss
-
11
Canadian Medical Centre and renamed it to the Canadian Medical
Care.
Was it difficult to attract physicians and nurses for the new
facility?
After the departure of the Canadians I as a paediatric
consultant had many child patients whose parents wanted to continue
in their care in the Canadian Centre. So I looked for
suitablephysicians and nurses and found Dr. Votrubaas the first one
and with his help also others. It was always difficult, because our
requirements on physicians and nurses were and still are very
high.
What is the situation nowadays? It is pro-bably easier to
recruit qualified physicians and nurses speaking a foreign
language.
At present it is easier to offer a job in an estab-lished
working institution that has a certain name. Physicians as well as
nurses who possessa very good knowledge of languages ask for a
jobthemselves. It is a new situation and for me as an employer it
helps increase the quality of our services.
The name of your institution can conjure up that you provide
care only for foreigners. Is it true?
Our original clientele were mostly foreigners.Nowadays
foreigners from all over the world living in Prague account for 50
per cent of our clientele, the rest is domestic clientele. We are a
reliable
facility for foreigners whose staff is able to speak a foreign
language. For longer time we have been seeing the rising interest
of Czech patients. Our clients are very demanding. They require the
highest standard of care. The name of the institution also reflects
our effort to adopt the Canadian approach to the relation between
patient and physician.
What is this approach based on? This approach lies in the active
communica-
tion between the physician and patient and is based on mutual
trust and respect. We put a great emphasis on personal relations.
When-ever our patient turns to us, we always try to help them. Our
philosophy is that every patient has their physician and that the
physician knows the whole family; because if you know the family,
you know the illnesses that have appeared there and what you can
expect. So we are trying to create all conditions in order to
achieve this, because it is the patients benefit.
Your clientele comes from all corners of the world. Have you
ever had a case when you suggested a certain solution, but the
patient refused to accept it for various reasons?
Yes, I did. Patients for example give preference to a maximum
treatment at ambulatory level; they are afraid of language and
cultural barriers at our hospitals.
How do you handle these situations? We try to accommodate them.
It is also in
accord with modern medicine that prefers out-patient or
stationary treatment to hospitaliza-tion, if it is possible. The
health of the patient must not be jeopardized.
You offer treatment in many specialisa-tions, even in
acupuncture and homeopathy that is not very common. Does it mean
that you do not consider alternative medicine as an
anachronism?
Certainly not. Alternative medicine has its place in treatment
of patients and can serve asan appropriate complement to classical
medi-cine. In some foreign centres, there are offices of a general
practitioner and physician of Chi-nese medicine next to each other
and it is a very required combination. We want to offer similar
services.
You provide only outpatient care. What hos-pitals do you
cooperate with in case of more serious diseases requiring
hospitalization?
We closely cooperate with the Motol Hospitalas well as with the
Institute for the Care of Mother and Child in Podol. In case of the
Podol Institutethe cooperation looks as follows. We take care of
expectant mothers who then deliver their babies at the Institute.
After delivery they come back tous and we look not only after
mothers, but alsoafter their children.
MUDr. Barbara Tauov Canadian Medical Care in Prague
-
Do you cooperate with insurance compa-nies or do patients cover
all the costs?
We cooperate mainly with foreign insurance companies foreigners
do not have to worry about the account because we do it on behalf
of them. From the Czech insurance companies we cooperate with the
VZP CR, OZP and the Insurance Company of the Ministry of Interior
CR, but not to the full extent.
You focus on paediatrics. If you compare the level of
paediatrics in the Czech Republic and in the world, what is the
position of the Czech Republic?
Very good; in practical paediatrics we havebenefited from the
organization of this speciali-zation in the last years. Progressive
solutionsand approaches, relationship to the patient it is up to
each physician. In the CMC we are trying to provide the best care
in compliance with the newest pieces of knowledge of modern
medicine. We use the Evidence Based Medicine database which is the
new direction of application of clini-cal studies results in
practice. Hereby we areable to provide medical care at a world
level.
Your centre has placed in the 100 Czech Best in the category
Education, health and humanity as the best medical institution of
the year four times (2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008). What has been
evaluated in this category?
The contribution of individuals or companies to the overall
level of health in our country is be-ing assessed. The decisive
point is how physi-cians educate themselves further, what the level
of provided services and the approach to thepatient is. Our policy
is that physicians educate
themselves constantly and thus keep abreast of the newest
research in the given specializa-tion of health care in the world.
So the standard ofof p prorovividededd cacarere h hasas b beeeenn
ririsisingng.. OuOurr apapprproaoachch to the patient, as it was
mentioned above, lies in the active dialogue when the physician has
tobe able to answer all the patients questions concerning their
health. And this is not verycommon in our country yet.
What are your future plans? In cooperation with city district
Prague 6 we
plan to extend our services. We think about buil-ding a
retirement home with 150 beds as well as a kindergarten for 50
children in Veleslavn. In Prague 4 we would like to build a
Childrens Ambulance Centre and extend our assistanceservices such
as for example transport services, escorts to hospitals by our
employees, 24-hour on-call service, the possibility to call
physiciansanytime, and home visits to our clients. We want to keep
up the trust of our patients and conti-nually increase the quality
of our care.
Compiled by LM
Leaders Magazine V/200912
esk peklad naleznete v elektronick verzi magaznu na
www.leadersmagazine.cz
Examination, Canadian Medical Care in Prague
-
Leaders Magazine V/VV 2009 13
Summer offers more opportunity to indulge in reading, one of my
favorite activities, and I especially like it when I bump into a
book or an article which stops me in my tracks and reorients my
thinking.
One of those moments happened last month when I came across a
New York Times article entitled Mental Stress Training Is Planned
for U.S. Soldiers, which says that the U.S. Army is developing an
intensive training pro-gram about emotional resiliency.
While the corporate world has embraced Daniel Gole-mans
Emotional Intelligence principles for a couple of de-cades, the
military culture has generally considered talk of emotions to be a
sign of weakness rather than a dimen-sion of strength to be
incorporated in their combat training.
All that is about to change with the new Comprehen-sive Soldier
Fitness Program which, according to ArmyChief of Staff Gen. George
Casey, is designed to strengthensoldiers, family members and Army
civilians emotionally, spiritually and socially, giving them the
ability to cope with stress.
Confronted with an increase in service suicides (62 con-firmed
suicides and 34 unconfirmed from Jan 1 through July 31) and PTSD
(post traumatic stress disorder) cases, theArmy is prompted to
bring the same emphasis to soldiers emotional fitness as their
physical fitness.
The salient discovery that emotional fitness plays a cru-cial
role in the soldiers overall well-being and their perfor-mance in
combat resonates deeply with Daniel Golemans assertion about the
vital role that empathy and self-knowledge play in effective
leadership.
Daily life requires that we cope with complex emotions,from
getting stuck in traffic on our way to an important meeting to
preparing a presentation for the next marketing strategy plan. But,
regardless of our efforts to try to keep our emotions under
control, our emotional brain reacts quicker than our rational
brain.
Situated in the limbic system (mediator between thoughts and
feelings), the amygdala (responsible for our emotions)reacts
instantly to what we perceive. When the amygdala perceives an
emotional emergency, it can take over the rest of the brain before
the neo-cortex (the thinking brain) has time to analyze the signals
coming in and decide what to do. Depending on the signal, the
amygdala can prompt us to high anxiety, paralyzing fear or even
rage, before we quite know what is going on.
All emotions serve a purpose; they are the Hermes of our
subconscious mind, the feedback messenger of our un-
consciousness. When we get iintnto an emotional tailspin,it is
time to pay attention to the messasages our emotions are sending
us, because any emotion can hahave negative con-sequences and
become destructive. Even ttoooo much happi-ness, turned into
hysteria, can lead to destructivve e behavior.
But when we speak about negative emotions we aarer usu-ally
referring to fear and anger, with anger often the fococusof
attention.
A healthy dose of anger is often useful, even beneficial; if
there was no anger about injustice in the world, no revolu-tions
would have ever taken place. But being able to expressanger in a
healthy manner is a challenge, especially when anger hard-wires our
physical and emotional responses. If, as Vincent van Gogh once
professed, Emotions are thegreat captains of our lives and we obey
them without reali-zing it, how do we find ways to handle our
destructive emotions more effectively, to become the masters of our
emotions instead of letting them take over?
According to Daniel Goleman, The good news is that the brain is
plastic throughout life it is shaped throughrepeated training and
experience. That means we can ac-quire emotional skills. And
emotional skills can be learned and developed until an advanced
age.
As much as those crucial emotional skills can be learned,it
takes practice to be able to observe and understand feel-ings when
they arise, and to pause before we respond. To foster the ability
to restrain our quick emotional impulseswe need to develop: 1.
Emotional Awareness
This is understanding what we are feeling and why. It is
identifying how our bodies feel when we are experiencing fear or
anger and describing our physical sensation; e.g.when I want to ask
my boss for a raise, my stomach gets tense; when my colleague
doesnt listen to what I say, myblood boils. It is also describing
the action the emotionseems to be pushing us to do; e.g. when I am
angry I feel like shouting.2. Emotional Focus or Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the calm awareness of ones body func-tions,
feelings, content of consciousness, or consciousnessitself. To
acquire mindfulness, we can practice simple mind-ful meditation,
which is the ability to attend to the moment.This can be done while
seated, walking or during any activity. It is mind training. It is
about paying close attention to what we are doing and experiencing,
and how we feel in the mo-ment. It is the opposite of multitasking.
It is about bringing the mind back to the moment whenever it
wanders off.
3. Emotional ControlAs the Dalai Lama pointed out in one of his
interviews,
To be effective in responding to what makes us angry, we need to
keep the focus and energy of the anger, but drop the anger itself
in order to act more skillfully.
Some easy ways to drop anger are to breathe deeply, from your
diaphragm; silently speak a calming word or phrase; or to visualize
a pleasant place or experience.
Never speak or act/react when feeling angry, and focus on wwhat
you want to achieve instead of what is bothering you. OOuru
perceptions are controlled by what we focus on and thee m eaning we
give to what is happening to us. For example, wwheh n someone is
late we can think one of several things: Something came upp, he/she
will arrive soon, How dare he/she be latete a and make me wait,
Something horrible like an aaccc ident must have happened.
Before letting ourselves get intto o ana emotional
tailspin/unthinking panic mode, we need to tatake a deep breath
and: Change our perception: the person probably y did dnt mean to
offend us, Change our approach: maybe we mis-communicateed d the
time or place of the meeting, Change our communication: shift from
indirect to direct communication and be specific, instead of
assuming peopleknow our expectations.
Anger can feel good, even terrific, because it is ener-gizing.
But the consequences can be adaptive and func-tional, or really
destructive. Used appropriately recogni-zing when we are angry and
why we are angry anger can be a powerful tool for change.
For years, the accepted belief was that intellectual abili-ties
were the key to success in life. It turns out that emotions also
play a crucial, possibly greater, role. Far from distorting our
rational thinking or distracting our minds, emotions are key to our
ability to appraise, evaluate and ultimately make decisions. They
are what make life rich and interesting.
If the U.S Army, which has long suppressed talk about emotion,
recognizes the necessity to teach soldiers ade-quate emotional
skills to deal with the extreme stresses combat generates, the task
should be fairly easy for the rest of us. And recognizing the
fundamental connection between rationality and emotion allows us to
be more open about accepting the impact and benefit of emotions in
the profes-sional world, as well as in our private lives.
Karin Genton-LEpe has 15 years of management experience in the
United States, France and the Czech Republic. For the last 10 years
Karin has worked as a successful business coach in the Czech
Republic offering international professional expertise. As a
business coach, Karin has developed a range of coaching and
training programs for mid- and top-level managers to focus on
leadership development, cross-cultural understanding and effective
com-munication in an international environment. With her knowledge,
skills and range of experience, Karin has been a frequent guest
speaker at business conferences and educational institutions. She
is also a regular contributor to business journals and magazines.
Karin works in English and French and can be reached at
[email protected]
THE GREATCAPTAINS OF OUR LIVES
-
An interview with Fatma Yuceler, Turkishh Airlines General
Manager for the Czech Repubblic and Slovakia
Leaders Magazine V/200914
Photos: ArchiveIt s the small detaails that matter...
Turkish Airlines is tthe fastest expanding airline company in
Europe, with more than 120 aircraft annd an ever-increasing number
of global destinations whichalready stand at mmore than 150. With a
reputation that has been built, inno small part, on iits excellent
service,Turkish Airlines is ccontinuing to uphold its status as the
rissing star of the worldof travel and, in paarticular, as a
globalAmbassador for Turkkey.
Turkish Airlines iss a member of theStar Alliance netwoork, one
of the most prestigious alliances in the world. With Turkish
Airlines you can y to 965 desti-nations worldwide, eearn more miles
withtheir Miles & Smilees card, bene t fromincreased
privileges, priority reservations and baggage check-in, and, with
Star Alliance Gold statuus, have access to approximately 800
lounges all over theworld.
At a time when mmost companies are cutting back on ttheir
spending and waiting out the crisis, Turkish Airlines continues
onwards and upwards, andin a recent study it was shown that, out of
all of the airlinees operating on the European stage, it was the
only one to show an operating pro t during the rst half of 2009.
Some accolade!
Prague Leaders Magazine went to meet with Ms. Fatma Yucceler,
Turkish Airlines General Manager foor the Czech Republic and
Slovakia to nd out how the companycontinues to do so wwell:
The Rising Star of the Aviation World
TURKISH AIRLINES
-
Leaders Magazine V/VV 2009 15
Turkish Airlines has had offices in the Czech Republic since
2000. What have been some of the companys greatest achievements
during that time and what as-pects have changed since you first
started?
ed its operations in the Czech When Turkish Airlines starte, we
had 3 flights per week Republic in September, 2000ated through a
code share to Istanbul, which were oper05, shortly after I arrived
in arrangement with SA. By 20
mount had risen to 5 times the Czech Republic, that amoperating
daily flights.a week, and by 2007 we were oe early days, we had to
work I think that, especially in ths as a global brand; and still,
hard to position Turkish Airlines
quality of our services and the we continue to push home the
qgood choice for flying fromfact that we are not simply a
t Istanbul is the ideal gatewayPrague to Istanbul, but also
thatto the rest of the world.
of the fact that we are now Personally I am very proud from
Prague to Istanbul, and operating nine flights a week fsed the
number of flights had we really wouldnt have increasom Czech
customers to travel there not been the demand frowith increased
passengers weon this route; and, of course, w
see increased revenue.changed everyones lives and Plus, too, the
internet has cking online, our whole market-with so many passengers
bookge and I think that our local ing strategy has had to changz)
really shows just how wide website (www.turkishairlines.czd the
extent of our service.our range of destinations is and
What is driving you to expand your line of services when so many
of your competitors are decreasing ope-rations? What makes Turkish
Airlines so different?
and energetic company with Turkish Airlines is a young ay wants
to continue to grow76 years experience. It reallych it sees as most
important and expand and the area whicxample, whilst other airlines
is in its level of service. For ex
cutting costs, Turkish Airlines have been looking at ways of
cvice in December of 2008, launched its First Class serv0 ER
aircraft to its long-haul and added 3 Boeing 777-300y of offering
passengers the fleet which have the capacityy, as well as Business
and ultimate in First Class luxuryt Class for many airlines is
Economy Class seating. Firsthave it available on flightsa thing of
the past, but we kyo, London and New York to Singapore, Hong Kong,
To
should definitely try our first and it is really fantastic. You
sl like a true superstar!class at least once to really feeers are
not only focused on I think, too, that, passenge
really important. At Turkish cost, and that service is still fer
the highest possible level Airlines we really do aim to offtive
price in all of our classes; of service at the most competitrtant,
but when you see that of course ticket price is imports are often
the first to be Business and First Class sea
assengers really do value the booked, it is clear that many
paquality when they are flying, absolute best in service and qg
some distance.particularly if they are travelling
Turkish Airlines has recently increased the number of flights
between Prague and Istanbul. Is Istanbul the draw for Czech
travellers, or do you think that they mostly use it as a transfer
on to other destinations?
the world that connects two Istanbul is the only city in tique,
exciting and exotic citycontinents and it is a really un
tation for its ability to deliver that has earned a global
reputf sophisticated modern faci-an unmatched combination ofd
hospitality. It is definitely lities combined with
old-worldtravellers from the West to a natural hub for business td
say that travellers from the the East and vice versa. I wouldnbul
for a number of reasons, Czech Republic are visiting Ista
ween Turkey and the Czechand also that business betwRepublic is
definitely growing.
What do you think is so special about Turkey? to start to answer
this ques-It is difficult to know where ons why Turkey is so
special! tion as there are so many reas
It is rich in history and culture and you can see beautiful
countryside, amazing beaches and unique landsscapes everywhere you
look. Of course, Turkey is also a ggolfers paradise, which has
become famous worldwide. Morreover, there is something in Turkey
for everyone, from every religion, it has fantastic shops, food and
drink and, of course, its people are some of the friendliest thaat
you can hope to meet. What else can I say!
You have mentioned that many travellers use Istanbul as a hub to
the Middle East, Far East and Africa If we wanted to take a flight
from Prague on Turkish Airlines, which are the destinations that
you would recommend?
Well, Turkish Airlines now has 9 flights a week from PPrague to
Istanbul, which allows access for our Czech-basedd pas-sengers to a
wide range of destinations; for example, yoou can fly from Istanbul
to Bangkok, Hongkong, Singapore, Jakarta or Beijing and Shanghai or
Dubai, New Delhi, Mumbai or JJohan-nesburg, Cape Town, Addis Ababa,
Nairobi and many otthers
We also have new destinations that are being addded all the
time; most recently, Turkish Airlines launched flights to Sao Paulo
in Brazil, and Toronto in Canada and I woouldntbe surprised if more
are announced as we go on thhrough the year...
What is the story behind your Kevin Costner ad?We knew we wanted
a worldwide, well-known celebriity fea-
tured in our new ad that was designed specifically to prromote
the quality of our services. Kevin Costner seemed to be the logical
choice he is, of course, a star, but he is doown to earth and
someone that people feel they can connect with the idea is to make
people feel that they, too, can feeel like a star. Kevin is
extremely easy to work with and was a pperfect
fit for the campaign, and he is, of course, a big fan of
Turkey.You have told us a lot about Turkish Airlines plans for
growth. Can you give us an example of some of the official
statistics that show that Turkish Airlines is doing so well?
Well, the Association of European Airlines (AEEA) for example,
publishes a lot of statistics, and from some of the recent research
we can see that, as a result of our efforts, we are reaching new
heights on a more or less daily bassis. For example, based on data
compiled by AEA in the laast few months, Turkish Airlines was
Europe s fourth largest inn terms of the number of passengers
carried in the Januarry-May period of 2009, having flown some 8.9
million people, which means a ten percent increase in passengers
numbers. Right now, Turkish Airlines is just behind Germany s
Lufthhansa, France s Air France, and England s British Airways in
nuumbers carried, but our target is to be one of the top three, and
as the only airline in Europe that has managed to increase itts
pas-sengers traffic and numbers compared with figures for 2008, I
am confident that we are soon going to achieve this gooal.
In another important and encouraging developmeent we also earned
a very strong position in a survey condducted by Aviation Week, one
of the most respected publications in the aviation sector. Based on
the results of a comprehensive survey under five different
headings, the magazine rranked airlines in terms of the soundness
of their corporate struucture. Turkish Airlines was placed fourth
in this ranking, which included all the airlines in the world.
Bearing in minnd that we were placed thirteen in last years survey,
this is aa great result, and the biggest jump of any of the
airlines researrched.
What is the meaning of your new catering campaign Who s in the
Kitchen?
Hospitality is our national pastime and the servicce and
catering on board Turkish Airlines flights is something that we are
very proud of. Our new campaign Who s in the Kitchen? shows how our
catering company has come up with a variety of concepts for our
Economy, Businesss and First Class passengers, and how each one of
them was de-signed to meet the expectations of passengers from lots
of different cultural backgrounds. The finest menuss have
been carefully put together from Mediterranean, Italian, Spanish
and French cuisine, with the occasional inclusion of an Asian
flavor or two to complete the mix. We also offer special
refreshments that are unique to each destination for our passengers
to taste.
We have special menus for special expectations. If you are a
vegetarian, we have a menu for you. We also have menus prepared in
line with your religious beliefs. And if youhave health problems if
you are diabetic, or if you are simply on a diet and being strict
about calories or carbs,dont worry, we have a menu for you,
too!
Turkish Airlines recently announced that it had been awarded 4
stars in every category. What does this mean?
Skytrax, the association that monitors the quality of all
air-lines, recently awarded Turkish Airlines four stars for each of
its classes on short, medium and long-haul flights. Airlinesare
judged on a long list of different things and are able to begiven
anything from one to five stars for each category. Turkish Airlines
is the only airline in Europe to be awarded four stars in all
categories, (i.e Business and Economy on short haul and First
Class, Business and Economy on long-haul) you can find out all
about this on www.airlinequality.com. We are, of course, really
excited about the results, but the thing that I am particularly
proud of is the award of four stars for economy,which is difficult
to achieve and we are the only Europeanairline to manage it!
What is the biggest challenge for you at work? What is your life
credo?
Everything I do, I try to do the best that I can... Just doing
something decently is not enough for me. I m a bit of a
perfectionist. This is a bit tiring but I m sure that in the end it
brings the best. I m never satisfied when I progress just enough, I
always think I can achieve more or I can do better. My credo?
Always try to do my best.
What do you do to relax?I love travelling particularly to really
exotic destinations,
but if I dont have enough time to go too far, the best
relaxa-tion for me is to escape for short or long weekends.
Its a real treat for me, especially when my son is accom-panying
me!
Compiled by LM
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Leaders Magazine V/200916
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IS THE ONLY WAY
An interview with Miroslava Kopicov, Minister of Education
PhDr. Miroslava Kopicov was appointed the Minister of Education,
Youth and Sports in Maay. She served as the cabinet minister with
the same responsibility in 2006. She graduated from the Facultty of
Arts, Charles University. She came to the government from the
National Training Fund where she was dirrector from 1994. Before
that she had held several senior positions at the Federal Ministry
of Labour and Social Affairs. She is the 1st Vice-Chairwoman of the
Research and Development Council of the Government of the Czecch
Republic.
You became minister for the second time and besides this it is
under the same Parliament. That is little bit unusual. Has the
ministry changed in any dramatic way during the two years when you
were not in the office?
Only one deputy minnister has kept her office since I served my
first teerm as minister. All the rest has changed significantlly.
The ministry as an insti-tution has grown by some two hundred
employees. Surprisingly, there is noo connection between
theincrease in the numberr of the staff and the EU Presidency as
much ass it is connected with thestructural funds. I am nnot happy
about that. My idea of the implementation of structural funds would
be different, nevvertheless this is the waythe ministry is set.
In what way your government role differs from the first
appointment? How would you compare your two government
involvements?
Today everything is so much unlike the first time. When I came
to the officce first time I thought I was coming for four years.
OOn the first day, I brought people that I was sure were the right
ones to lead the ministry in a new strateggic course. This time I
knew the situation was differennt. I was hesitating whether I
should accept the offeer. I was considering what I could do in such
a shortt time and with such limited mandate. It was obvious II
would not manage to push through any legislative changes. Thus, no
principal changes that would be rrather necessary would be
possible. I considered aalso the staff issues and decided not to
make any crucial alternations. Nevertheless, it is not that I would
think that a change is not needed.
This time my situation is more difficult as I control, check and
give assignments in more detail and more in-depth than I used to
ddo when I was encircled by
Photo: Vladimr Weiss
-
Leaders Magazine V/VV 2009 17
ame with me and whom a team of deputies that cmore of explaining
thingsI could trust. Now, it needs
ng. and often also of persuadinWhat was your programme which you
joined
the government with? If we can talk of the programme for the few
months.
set the little what I could I said to myself I had to ficult and
limited circum-achieve no matter the diffent works in. I was
positivestances that this governme
knew the situation of this I could help and not harm. Ind that I
would face the government department af not bringing my peoplerisk
and the discomfort ofneed to work with those with me and that I
would cided on a few priorities who were here. Then I dec
that were urgent.e unified high school leav-First, it is to
solve out thethe question of the reform ing exams. Second, to face
ton and training system. of the university educatio
mportant issue for the mi-I consider this the most imI cannot
proceed muchnistry right now. However,
would require a bill that further in solving it as it wcurrent
Parliament. Con-would not get through the ssues, we have to
reallo-cerning some of the other in the right direction. We cate
the structural funds i
he funds in such way that need to direct the use of
thtrategically to help us to we could use the money srisis which
hits the minis-bridge over the economic c
try of education very hard.hus diametrically altered My
ambitions have thrm.from my first ministerial ter
Besides serving as minister you are also the 1st Vice-Chairwoman
of the Research and Deve-lopment Council of the Government. If I
under-stand it correctly, this role concerns stating long-term
concepts and parameters for the Czech science. On the other side,
here at the ministry you must concentrate on dealing with everyday
executive management.
nces it would not be that Under normal circumstaee aspects have
made the complicated, however, threlt and little bit
complex.situation a bit more difficul to the office on Friday,
Firstly, I was appointed
on the following MondayMay 8, and immediately og two Councils of
Ministers and Tuesday I was presidingbig task. Another Council in
Brussels which was a bof our Presidency. This set was then towards
the end o
two months in the office.my programme for the first stion has
emerged along-Secondly, the budget ques
financing of the research side with the solving of the on the
budget have been and development. Works o by the crisis, the launch
influenced by cuts caused
nd by the utilization of theof the reform of science anthing is
the question of fi-structural funds. The third tScience. All this
together nancing the Academy of Swhich I did not originally took up
much of my time w
think it would. It is not easy, but still, the issues are
closely connected and one can concentrate on both. However, the
ministry is currently the priority.
The situation of the Czech science and its future direction has
been opened in the media and has become one of the highly discussed
issues of the summer. What is the situation like from your point of
view?
I have to say that research and development are the only
possible ways to a successful future in the world for a country
like ours. Today, we are in a situ-ation when we desperately need
to increase the added value in our production and services since
the costs of our labour are rather high. We are four times more
expensive than China or India. We are twice as expensive as Romania
and Bulgaria. Our labour is half more expensive than in Slovakia or
Poland. Either we have to cut the costs of our labour and thus the
living standard of the people or our production must be
science-based. At the same time, our effort to reach such an aim is
complicated by the fact that we do not have enough highly
quali-fied workers. The group of the highly competent is limited
and disproportionately bigger is the group of the rather average
ones. The group of scientists is not big enough and we cannot
afford to lose any of them or not to produce the young ones. The
question is also how to work best with the scientific capacity we
possess and in what strategic directions we should target them. We
artificially detach basic re-search and applied research. Though we
have exam-ples even at the Academy of Science, such as the research
teams of professor Hol or professor Sykov, whose basic research
ends with applica-tions. That is the desirable state in my
view.
Another debate has opened about the position of the Academy of
Science and universities in the area of research, development and
innovations. The real-ity was that at the beginning of our
transformation research results at the universities were rather
poor. However, this has changed dramatically and today universities
contribute by a significant proportion to the performance of Czech
science. While at the same time, they bring the very important
added value by educating the young generation.
In your view, how should the money and re-sources flow into
research and development and how they should be allocated?
We have witnessed a long and still ongoing dis-cussion what
proportion is best between the basic and applied research. The
proportion of the basic research has increased from 23 per cent in
2000 to 29 per cent today while the opposite trend has been
recorded with applied science and research. This is a reverse
development when compared to states
such the U.S. or Japan. I do not want to evaluatethe numbers as
such. As long as the basic research in the areas where it is
possible ends with appli-cations then it is absolutely all right
and it is thedesirable state.
The reform we have implemented aims to bring more targeted money
than institutional money.Gradually in the years 2010, 2011, and
2012 a third of the money shall be transferred from the
institu-tional budget to targeted budget which will be then
competed for. The methodology that was createdfor such purpose and
that was prepared by a teamconsisting of scientists and experts may
result in painful reduction of funds for the Academy of Science. I
do not possess the data to be able to saywhether it is because of
the methodology used or the real research results of the Academy.
So I amcoming with a solution when we would compare theresults in
related fields between the universities, theAcademy and abroad. If
the data show that the Academys performance is on a comparable
level with the universities then we have a mistake in theevaluation
methodology which does not take some-thing into account. No one who
was at the beginning of the reform had the intention to abolish
theAcademy and transform it into something else. And if anything
such should happen only because themethodology used says that, then
we would have to be more than 100 per cent sure that the
methodol-ogy describes the real quality of the research out-puts.
But now, still there are no intentions to abolishthe
institution.
What should be the proportion as such of the state funds and the
private funds coming into research?
The Lisbon strategy says we should invest one per cent of the
GDP from public sources and additional two per cent should come
from the private sector. Inreality 0.6 per cent is spent from the
state budget. However, a bigger problem is the lack of private
re-sources in research and development. The newly established
Technological Agency will have the aimto help applied research. The
principal should be if you bring 50 per cent of the funding, the
state will give the other 50. The question is whether themoney we
intend to allocate there will be used at all.In no way this is
going to take money from the other areas of research as some of the
critics claim. Onthe contrary, we need to get more money
intoresearch this way.
By Filip Hubek
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An interview with Judge Robert Fremr about his experience with
the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Robert Fremr (1957) returned to the Supreme Court of the Czech
Republic at the beginning of the yeear after spending two years in
Tanzania as a member of ICTR. Judge Fremr was a Judge of the
Supreme Court of thhe Czech Republic from 2004 until he joined the
ICTR. Between 1989 and 1992 he was a Judge at the High Court in
Praguue (Penal Section), before becoming its Presiding Judge in
1992. He was also the Chairman of the Appellate Panel of thee High
Court (Penal Section). Before Judge Fremr was a Judge of the Court
of Appeal in Prague (Penal Section). He has allso been a lecturer
of Criminal Law at the Law Faculty of Charles University in Prague,
and a lecturer on Human Rights at ccourses for judicial
practitioners and judges, organized by the Judicial Academy of the
Ministry of Justice of the Czech Reppublic.
Leaders Magazine V/200918
JUDGE RWANDA
PPhPhoto:o: Vlladidiadiad mmmrmrmm We WeWeWeisisssss
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Leaders Magazine V/VV 2009 19
How does a country such as the Czech Republic get the position
of judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda?
iodically in the Tribunal. Judges are elected perndate of one
judge was At the time when the maech Republic was asked coming to
its end, the Czetake part in the election whether we would like to
ts assessed that a candi-process. The situation wase might have a
chance. date from Central Europehe Czech Republic basedThus I was
delegated by th was even asked to make on a selection procedure.
I
paign in New York. The sort of an election campmeetings with
individualcampaign meant to have
ntries. During those mee-electors from various couny conception
and ideas tings I was presenting mycould contribute to the of the
Tribunal and how I
pose it was more a diplo-panel. Nonetheless, I supprather than
between indi-matic battle of the states rd two elections. We, as
vidual candidates. I joine, as the candidate, lost the Czech
Republic and Ijudge. The second votethe vote for a permanent which
is a judge that is was for a judge ad litem ual cases. We won that
being assigned to individ
public got a position of vote and the Czech Repbunal.a judge ad
litem at the Trib
The problematic of the United Nations, its commissions,
committees, but also international criminal tribunals is the
responsibility and domain of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. How
did you get into the spotlight of the Ministry and won the
nomination?
bulletin came from theIt was rather simple. A My superior knew I
had Ministry to our Court. MCouncil of Europe; I could worked in
committees of Crench. So they asked me speak English and some Fdure
out of which I came to join the selection proce
as the winner.What was your idea of functioning of such an
international judicatory panel before you left for Africa and
what was the reality then?
ience being a member of I had had certain experims or as a
member of the various international team
snia. It was clear to me it assessment mission in Boify
different approaches would be necessary to unfrom different
countries of the individual judges fsaw such an internationaland
continents. But still, I smy approach was humblebody for the first
time and mespect. I studied closelyand with a great deal of reeen
finished and brought previous cases that had be
When looking back, I dare to an end by the Tribunal. Wund
boasting, that as the to say, however it may souch judiciary I did
a good representative of the Czecpression. In comparison job and
made a good impom other judiciaries the with other top judges
froave to be ashamed.Czech judiciary does not h
The ICTR follows the Commonwealths system of law. How difficult
it was to prepare and then work within a totally different law
system?
perience. I made a com-It was an interesting expvantages of the
Anglo-parative study of the ad
d our system some timeSaxon system of law andAnglo-Saxon system
was ago. It seemed to me the AWhen I had to apply the more flexible
and faster. We to a conclusion that it system in practice I
camepoints as well. The judge has got a number of weak
in the system is putted little bit aside. They are only sort of
a referee in the fight of two conflicting sides. If the parties are
passive or they do not proceed in the process fast enough they are
usually reluctant to step in. On the other hand, in our system a
judge plays maybe too much an active role. In case the prosecutor
gets passive they sometimes substitute for their role. This is not
good as the judge ought to be fair and impartial. Both systems
intend to draw on each others advantages and they are getting
nowadays closer to each other.
What were the cases you were assigned to at the ICTR?
The cases have not been closed by a legitimate ruling yet. We
decided them at the first stage and the convicts have been waiting
now for the appel-late procedure. My cases were special and
diffe-rent to the others in a way. Typical victims standing in
front of the Tribunal are cabinet ministers, pre-fects, top civil
servants, top police officers or top army officers. The first
accused was a public pro-secutor. He was the only professional
representa-tive of the judiciary charged and sent in front of the
Tribunal. He was issuing forged warrants against Tutsis as a public
prosecutor in order to gather the most important Tutsis and in no
time to exe-cute them. The second case was the most popular Rwandan
singer and composer who was accused of encouraging the genocide by
his songs and its lyrics. Whereas in the case of the prosecutor we
came to the conclusion that we had enough evi-dence to plead him
guilty and he was condemned to life imprisonment. In the second
case it was not proven that the singer would compose the songs
already with the intention and motivation to incite to the
genocide. At the end he was condemned with only one crime when he
was personally en-couraging people at a public gathering with
loud-hailer to go and kill the Tutsis. He was sentenced 15 years of
imprisonment.
Do you think that such a tribunal can lead to reconciliation in
the country?
The Tribunal declares such aspiration right in its status. This
was also the reason I went there. I thought that I as the European
would contribute a little to stabilization of the situation in
Rwanda. I supposed that punishing the guilty could be the path to
reconciliation. However, I learnt there was a snag in the whole
thing. Hutus were the only one standing in front of the Tribunal.
But then I found out that criminal acts that could be prosecuted by
the Tribunal were committed during the time of liberation of Rwanda
by the liberation army whose members were predominantly the Tutsis.
However, the political design and objection was to present the
genocide first of all as the act of the Hutus. The prosecutor who
was in charge has not accused, at least till now, any of the
Tutsis, despite the appeals of many lawyers and experts. If a sense
of injustice stays in the air that only crimes committed on one
side got punished, it wont make the reconciliation easier. I am
afraid that if the Hutus get the feeling that the approach to the
crimes of Tutsis, however committed on much smaller scale, is not
just fair, then it is not good for the future.
The Tribunal is a UNs body. In our European thinking and culture
a sentence pronounced by an independent court is considered an
adequate punishment of a crime and can be considered in our
cultural space as a presumption for re-conciliation. Is African
society advanced enough in this sense that a fifteen-year sentence
of imprisonment for instance is accepted as the right and final
punishment and squaring up with the committed crime?
I have changed my opinion on that, too. The pro-ceedings of the
Tribunal are closely watched and monitored by media. Program and
happenings at the Tribunal are everyday part of news. When I read
the papers in Tanzania, information from the Tribunal took up much
more space than in Europefor instance the information about the
Tribunal inBosnia, when we hear, is only about the result of a
case. I believed the great awareness of what theTribunal does must
have an educational effect onthe society. I was then deeply
disappointed when riots following by ethnic manslaughter came
during Kenyan election that copied exactly the same modus operandi
of the convicts in Rwanda. When I saw pictures from Kenya it was a
copy of what was happening in Rwanda fifteen years ago. I faced a
question where is any of the educational effect of the Tribunal I
hoped for? This experience raised some doubts in me.
What is your personal experience and obser-vations of
Africa?
I learnt that Africa indeed needs a real help. Europe and the
ones leaving here often criticize things that are from their points
of view absolutely marginal. No matter how tough are their lives as
well as the difficult conditions everywhere aroundthem they are
unbelievable optimistic and able to rejoice at any time. They value
much education.They have no problem to pay for two things health
care and education. Everyone who has got anymoney saves them so
their kids could go to school and study.
Has the Czech Republic drawn on your expe-rience and contacts
you made in Africa after you came back? Is there any interest in
your expertise from the official places?
At this moment I cannot say that there would be a systematic
attempt to use my expertise and ex-perience. I am a member of an
advisory committee of European judges. But this body meets over
diffe-rent issues on the European scale. A visible result is that
thanks to the articles and media coverage of my involvement in the
ICTR I see an increased in-terest of my colleagues in such
missions. This is very positive fact because we as the Czech
Republic have good professionals to send into those bodies.My
mission had positive reception and it would be good if others would
build on it. The number of such tribunals is not small and there is
no reason why our people could not go and do a great job in
them.
By Filip Hubek
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20
interview
tefan Fle Minister for European Affairs
Photos: Vladimr Weiss
-
An interview with ttefan Fle, Minister for European Affairrs
SWITCHING FROM DIPLOMACY TO POLITICStefan Fle (1962) has served
as thhe Minister for European Affairss since May 8. He was
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech RRepublic
to the United Kiingdomm of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
betweeen20032005 before moving to Bruussels as the Ambassaddor andd
Head of the Permanent Mission of the CzecchRepublic to NATO, from
where he wwas called to the caretakeer goveernment. He graduated
from the Faculty of Phillo-sophy, Charles University and the
MMoscow State Institute of IInternaational Relations. He is the
bearer of The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminaas, 3rd
class; The Cross off Honouur of the Ministry of Defence of the
Czech Republiic,1st class and The Badge of Honour off the Gold Lime
Tree of thhe Miniistry of Defence of the Czech Republic.
Leaders Magazine V/VV 2009 21
You came to the government with the repu-tation of a top career
diplomat. What does this term, so much popular with the media,
actually mean? What is the professional description and personal
characterization of such a person, of a career diplomat?
I would say that the easiest description of a career diplomat is
that it is a civil servant that has got diplomacy as their
profession in the best sense of the word. Maybe the word craft is
evenn better than a profession. We say career diplo-mat to stress
that also politicians enter diplo-macy. There are many cases when
politicianss serve at embassies and they make excellent diplomats.
Nevertheless, the vast majority that serves abroad and works at the
ministry of foreignn affairs falls into the category of career
dip-lomats.
You were asking what is typical for these peo-ple. The
characterization which is inherent is that they are civil servants
speaking fluently severaal languages. Besides, they feature certain
qualitiess that are not that common in other jobs. One of them is a
loyalty. Another is the ability to workk with instructions from the
ministry. The instruc-tions coming from the centre do not have to
bee necessarily a strait-jacket. It is important that thee diplomat
is able to put the instruction into prac-tice in the best possible
way operating within thee context of the country where he serves
and con-sidering the partners he has to deal with. This re-quires
competences that are not just a simplee skill to read an
instruction and mechanically real-ize it. A career diplomat, or at
least the good onee, has to possess such competence.
A career diplomat also must not be a personn
that is uncommunicative andd reserveed. They have to be able to
mix in and noot only mmake connec-tions and create networks, bbut
also to retain and develop them. Whereas dduring tthe contacts and
dialogues with the diploomats, ppoliticians, or businessmen of the
country where yyou serve, it is important to get across something
immportant, but at the same time the more importaant thing is to
sensitively perceive and caarefully wwatch for the signals sent out
by the otherr side.
There is nothing worse foor a carreer diplomat than when he
wipes off thee line between facts and impressions. A career
ddiplomatt has to work in their reports, analysis aand
inteelligence with a clear cut division betweeen the faacts and the
impressions based on that facts, ppersonal con-tacts and experience
from the country. There is more to the professional and perssonal
charac-terization of career diplomatt for suree, but I would say
that those are the mostt specific features as I see them.
Your