Honey cake fever
12.11.2004 - Jarka Hálková

Marianna and Oleg Chibovskij have found an unusual way of getting rich here in Prague. They have become the Czech Republic's honey cake barons. Honey Cake or Medovnik in Czech is well known in Ukraine or Russia, and now the Czech Republic is engulfed by honey cake fever. The Chibovskijs started its production six years ago and now sell on average a staggering 20,000 cakes a month.

Medovnik's main ingredient is honey, 'med' in Czech. It has three pastry layers glued together by custard. Marianna Chibovskij, who originally came here eight years ago from Russia, used to make it at home until a friend of hers tasted it at her birthday party and decided to sell it in his own restaurant. It took another three years for people to realise that her hand-made honey cake - made to Marianna's grandmother's recipe - was really something special.

"We had to teach people to eat this cake. The cake looks quite ugly it has neither chocolate topping nor decoration. But it tastes very nice. Czechs were used to buying cakes that look the part, but this is different. When we started we had to let people taste the cake for free. Those who tasted it once came back and bought a whole cake. "

Medovnik is only sold in restaurants and a few confectioneries so it remains exclusive. None of the supermarkets are allowed to sell it in large quantities as this would ruin its image based on quality and rarity. Oleg confidently talks about their business strategy.

"I am against promotion. I have had many offers from TV and magazines to advertise but I don't want to. Promotion is necessary for products which you can't sell. People who taste the cake buy it. Czech people don't buy the cheapest things, they buy quality. They want to spend money on something good and special. The cake is special and that is why people buy it. "

To test the quality, Oleg's pastry chefs are asked to taste two of their cakes every day to make sure they are up to scratch.

"Medovnik is sold in all the Czech Republic, it is distributed to Slovakia we are thinking of selling it in Germany, Holland but it is difficult because the market is more developed there. We will get over this problem sooner or later and get on the market and increase our offer. "

Marianna has already picked up some other cakes, of course all made to traditional Russian recipes, which should appear on the Czech market before long. Both she and her husband are graduates of the mathematical-physical university in Moscow, and spent a long time working out the right dosage for sixty honey cakes. They are proud of their recipes, the fruit of six years´ work, and keep them top secret.

This is how my friends, Fred and Marika reacted to the cake:

"-That is nice.
-Can I have a bit?
-Has it got some coffee in it?
-I am not sure.
-It tastes like it might have a little bit of coffee flavour in it.
-It is a paradise.
-It has a nice texture hasn't it? It is not dry but it is not moist either. It is quite light and fluffy. You would have thought it to be very sweet but it is not. I was expecting it to be all sickly and horrid but actually I will have another piece please. We like this cake. Do you like this cake?
-Definitely
-And it has this lovely golden colour to it.
-It is like sunshine.
-Yummy, I think you should tell us where you get this cake from. We want some more. You are not supposed to eat the fork, mate.
-Sorry. "

The only down side to the honey cake is that it might take a long time to get rid of the weight you put on eating it.

Central European leaders send condolences to Palestinians
12.11.2004 - Kerry Skyring

Central European states sent condolences to Palestinians on the death this week of their long time leader, Yasser Arafat.

Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski sent a message of condolence to the interim head of the Palestinian Authority. He said he hoped the death of Yasser Arafat would serve as a point of reflection enabling a continuation of the Middle East peace process. Kwasniewski said "I want to pay tribute to him and I want to be close to Palestinians all over the world in their grief."

Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic said Palestinians have lost a significant leader and personality who devoted all his life to fighting for the identity of the Palestinian nation and for independence. Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda sent Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei a letter of condolence in which he wrote "the death of this significant leader of the Palestinian people means a huge loss for the Palestinians".

Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said Arafat was an "eminent personality of 20th century Middle East history" who fought for the cause of the Palestinian people throughout his life. Hungarian Foreign Minister Ferenc Somogyi attended the funeral in Cairo.

The Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda also flew to Cairo for the funeral of the Palestinian leader. After the death was announced on Thursday, Mr Svoboda said that Yasser Arafat had played a big role in the history of Palestine and will be greatly missed by the Palestinian people. Slovakia and Slovenia also sent their Foreign Ministers to the funeral while vice chancellor Hubert Gorbach represented Austria.

Poles the only European nation to back Bush's run for presidency
12.11.2004 - Slawek Szefs

Almost two weeks after the re-election of US President George W. Bush to a second term in the White House, European governments are getting used to the idea of another four years of a sometimes difficult trans Atlantic relationship. Many of them expected or hoped that they will be working with a Democrat administration led by John Kerry. But not all. Poland is the only EU country where opinion polls showed a majority of the population backed the Bush camp.

Poland has been associated as a staunch advocate of Bush policies, which became particularly evident in the case of Iraq. However, as Senate speaker Longin Pastusiak observes, Poland has fallen victim to certain political stereotypes:

"We Poles are very often accused of being the American Trojan horse in the European Union which, I think, is an exaggeration. The United States does not need Poland to be present in Europe. The US is already present in Europe - present militarily, politically through the connections of the North Atlantic Alliance, present culturally, economically to invest, and in trade and so on."

Should Poland adopt any policy change vis-à-vis the US in Bush's second term? Political analyst Krzysztof Mularczyk:

"Poland has developed a very Euro-Atlanticist position over the last couple of years, of being maybe not the principle allies of the United States in Europe, because that role is still performed by Great Britain, but being a very close ally. I think that strategy has got to be maintained, a strategy of trying to build bridges between Europe and America. And Poland, I think, would be very foolish to try and change this strategy now. That would be very confusing, both within Europe and also to the United States. So, I don't foresee any major changes being made here, either by the current government or any incoming government."

Why do Poles look up so much to the United States? Senate speaker Pastusiak:

"Maybe Polish companies will get more contracts in Iraq. I hope for some liberalization of the American visa policies towards Poland and Polish citizens, maybe some improvement in economic trade relations, because the level of trade between Poland and the United States is relatively low. Last year it was 2.9 billion US dollars and they are the number one economy in the world. So, there is a need for improvement".

Polish Euro-deputy Dariusz Rosati says Poland has won together with the Bush administration:

"Most European governments expected, or hoped for, election of Senator Kerry. This puts Poland in a privileged position, in a way, because now everybody knows that Poland enjoys very good relations with this administration and with the president who will govern America for another four years. And Poland can exploit diplomatically and politically this privileged position. For Poland it's a good development".

And Prof. Rosati adds this privileged position assigns Poland a special role in Euro-Atlantic relations:

"We should work in favour of eliminating differences that currently divide Europe and America. And we can be very well placed for this kind of activity. We should insist on our American allies that they should be more open and should be more prepared to restart dialogue with countries such as Germany and even France. Likewise, we should work within the European Union with our European partners to be more open and forthcoming in relations with President Bush".

Hungarian daily Magyar Hirlap closes down
12.11.2004 - Gyorgyi Jakobi

Hungary's media is in a state of rapid change. One of the four national daily newspapers, Magyar Hírlap was closed down by its Swiss owner Michael Ringier just over a week ago. But 72 hours later in move unprecedented in Hungary, a new daily was on the streets - with the name "The Point-European Newspaper".

First published in 1968, a flagship of liberal ideas and freedom of speech around and since the democratic changes 15 years ago Magyar Hírlap had failed to yield profit to the owner. However, as the paper's executive editor Peter Ipper explains losses were not Mr. Ringier's only problem:

"According to Hungarian regulations, one owner cannot have an overwhelming majority of the market and by purchasing the majority shares of another daily newspaper. The Ringier publishers basically have two of the four running papers, so this is an overwhelming portion of the market's share. Therefore the Hungarian Regulatory Authority has ordered that they have to get rid of one of those papers. Now, whether they sell it or close it down is up to the owners."

Following a mere 7 day notice the owner closed down not only the paper but also the building that the 85 member staff had worked in. As the owner kept all the editorial rights the staff immediately decided to form a company, find a printer, offices and a new name, The Point-European Newspaper.

"The reason is that Magyar Hírlap was the original name and that is why we chose to express a certain continuity and continuation of the type of newspaper we want to produce. We are trying to aim at an audience that is younger than the previous one. But we don't want to scare away our former readers. It has not only been an independent daily but has also been a fairly intellectual paper. This means that we try to produce a quality newspaper with reading material for people who like to read and not only look at pictures and captions, especially our weekend supplement where we have lots and lots of interesting reading material for people."

Executive Editor of The Point-European Newspaper, Peter Ipper. Peter says the entire staff of former Magyar Hírlap stayed together and offered to work free for a period of 4 to 6 weeks for The Point. While the price of The Point is 150 forints at the moment, already above the average price of dailies, plans are to sell the paper for One Euro, about 250 forints.

Will we witness a revival of religion in European policy?
12.11.2004 - Joanna King

Europeans regularly disparage the Bush administration in the US for its religious bent but some people see a revival of religion in European politics? Rocco Buttiglione - the man rejected by the European Parliament for his views on women and homosexuals says he will push for "Christian values" in Europe. And some politicians raise Europe's Christian traditions as an argument against Turkey joining the EU. The issue of Europe's spiritual identity was debated at a symposium in Vienna this week.

The idea that religion could play a role again in Europe's democratic politics is surprising to many. But Editor-in-Chief of Die Zeit Michael Naumann says he thinks that it may well be a trend in the future:

"The emergence of Evangelical movements in the United States coincides with profound social-economic changes. This could happen here too, in so far as if the welfare system were to collapse in Europe, what would people do? In the past we have had totalitarian movements, which picked up the unhappiness and discontent. This is not going to happen again but I think the churches might find it opportune."

But would the prominence of religious rhetoric seen in the US presidential campaign be desirable in the EU? Jozsef Szajer is Deputy-Chairman of the European Peoples Party in the EU Parliament:

"I wouldn't be too happy to see that kind of a strong dimension of religious involvement in politics as is the case in the United States."

Whatever the misgivings about the role of religion in democracies, Michael Naumann says Europe needs to acknowledge that Christianity has been a formative force:

"Europeans are of Christian heritage, whether they go to Church or not."

And there are dangers in not comprehending the Christian past of Europe according to Jozsef Szajer:

"Christianity was one of the sources of present European Unity. This is only a historical statement and if we don't say it then we falsify history. We want to be fair with the Buddhists and with followers of Islam but I think we can still be fair with them if we recognise our own identity and our own traditions as our own. Those who loose their identity loose their way in society."

But when it comes down to specific issues, does Christianity still have the say? Wasn't the fate of Mr Buttiglione a victory for secular values?

"The outrage about Mr Buttiglione was that he is just an old classic homophobic politician who hates gays. Europe has become more tolerant."

Turkey and the EU - will religion decide that? Jozsef Szajer denies it:

"Turkish society is also built on a very strong Islamic heritage and this is not irreconcilable. The problem is more of an economical nature."

Overall, does Europe - beyond having interesting discussions about it - have to agree that it has a common spiritual heritage?

"It does have a common identity and that identity can be described as the knowledge that we are all very different however we share a quest for commonality - a common and mutual belief in the benefits of an economic and legal integration. That has worked very well for all of us and if that is at the core of the identities next to the fact that we all do have a Christian heritage, whether we believe in God or not, it is enough."

Slovenia hosts confernce to save its forests
12.11.2004 - Ksenija Samardzija-Matul

Slovenia is well known for its forest clad landscape so it was a good choice for the Conference: 'Forests - The Future for Slovenia', held in Ljubljana last week. The conference heard that Slovenia's tall trees face some challenges if they are to be sustained for the future. A joint Netherlands and Slovenia monitoring project found pollution and global warming are the greatest threats.

In the last two years Slovene partners with experts from the Netherlands succeeded to establish the Intensive Forests Monitoring Programme in Slovenia. The programme is in compliance with the common programme EU Forests and the Forest Focus scheme, which is obligatory to all EU Member States. Dr Wim de Vries is a project co-ordinator of the Forest Intensive Monitoring project in Slovenia:

"This programme The European Forest Monitoring programme started about ten years ago and at that time it was mainly to monitor the impacts of air pollution that was the major focus to see what happens with forest conditions like the vitality of the forest and also what happens to the species below the forest, because of impulse of nitrogen and sulphur on the eco system. Nowadays more emphasis is given, indeed to the biological diversity and also the potential of forests to keep CO2 from the atmosphere, which is changing our climate.

"Our aim is to know what things like climate change and air pollution do, how do they affect our forests in terms of the diversity of plant species in terms of condition of the forest, the quality of ground water, soil water, surface water. And as such it can influence policy making, because we do want to know, how effective our measures to reduce emissions are and if they are not reduced, which can happen, because traffic increases, how bad or what's the impact on our eco-system. These monitoring systems do serve as important data for evaluating the effects."

The question is what activities should be taken by the governments to reduce pollution?

"The activities of the government, also in relation to the European Commission, is of course, to set standards in terms of what acceptable emissions of nitrogen oxides SO2 are. I believe that ultimately it's the reduction of emissions that's relevant and, of course as such the government is the body to give those targets."

Dr. Primoz Simoncic of the Slovenian Forestry Institute presented the first results of the project at this week's conference. And here is what he believes are the main dangers to Slovenia's forests:

"Because of climatic changes, like the temperature is rising, also the precipitation changed, we could have a lot of drought in summer periods, especially in the Carst region in the Pannonian parts, maybe some tree species are more subject to this new conditions and diseases and insects could attack them much easier and this means these trees could be damaged or the mortality is higher. Ill trees need to be cut and sometimes a huge amount of cutting occurs."

Hopefully politicians and the public will be more aware of the consequences of air pollution and the consequences for forests in the future, as with the increase of traffic and pollution in general these green lungs will be more and more important for us and for the generations to come.

Unfortunately, the heads of big industrial companies are still reluctant to lower emission of dangerous substances because this means less money for them. But maybe Russia's ratification of the Kyoto protocol is a good sign for the future that the awareness in the heads of those responsible will eventually grow. As we know pollution is a global issue.