Da Ferrovia Veloz

Czechs planned 'Adriatic tunnel'

Officials in the former communist Czechoslovakia had planned to build an underground rail link under Austria to the Adriatic, a Czech newspaper says.

The 410km-long (255 miles) tunnel would have drastically shortened the journey to the seaside for the landlocked country, Lidove Noviny reports.

The earth from the excavation would be dumped in the sea to form an artificial Czechoslovak island - Adriaport.

(...) The project envisaged that high-speed trains would take both tourists and exports to the Adriatic coast in about two hours.

(...) Apart from the sheer expense, one of the key issues was whether the Austrians would have let a Communist country build a tunnel underneath their feet, our correspondent says.

Só queria que salvassem a Linha do FarOeste...

República Checa, país irmão

Ainda na ressaca da queda do governo checo, a revista Der Spiegel esforça-se por analisar a situação num bom artigo cuja leitura aconselho. Permito-me realçar alguns pormenores:

(...) Topolanek is a part of this opaque system as well. His government was dependent from the beginning on defectors from the Social Democrats' ranks -- and no one knows how exactly he drew them to his side. When public television wanted to show a report on one of these representatives, politicians close to Topolanek intervened and tried to prevent the broadcast.

Even when the corruption grows too conspicuous to ignore, it often goes unpunished. Such was the case with Jiri Cunek, Topolanek's former deputy prime minister, who came under suspicion of having taken bribes. The investigation made no headway, the attorney in charge of the investigation was changed, and the case was eventually filed away. Cunek remains the Christian Democrats' party leader.

"There's a judicial mafia at work," says former Justice Minister Marie Benesova, explaining that in the Czech Republic the highest prosecutor works directly under the justice minister. That, she says, means the executive branch of the government can directly influence the judicial system.

The Social Democrats, who called the recent no-confidence vote in parliament, have also had their share of scandals. Former Prime Minister Stanislav Gross, for example, had to step down four years ago when he proved unable to explain how he had financed his luxury apartment in Prague.

(...) "Many Czechs believe they can cheat and rip off the government as much as they like." They have never learned to regard government as a caring institution. For them it is primarily an oppressor.

Políticos que condicionam os media e o sistema judicial, sem consequências; povo que adora trapacear o Estado; lembro-me agora que já conheci uma checa que tinha um valente bigode...

Any thoughts?