Czech politicians pay tribute to Madeleine Albright

Leading Czech politicians have paid tribute to Madeleine Albright, the first female US Secretary of State who has died at the age of 84. Prime Minister Petr Fiala remarked that Albright deserves great recognition and that the country bows before her memory. President Miloš Zeman said that she was the most important supporter and advocate of the Czech Republic in the United States. He also highlighted her role in the Czech Republic’s accession to NATO in 1999.

Meanwhile, the director of the Václav Havel Library and former Czech Ambassador to the United Kingdom Michael Žantovský said that Albright played a role in democratising Eastern Europe after the Cold War and that she was a major figure in both Czech and American history.

MEP and one of the founders of the post-revolutionary Civic Forum platform Alexandr Vondra tweeted that no one had done as much in the US for the Czech Republic as Madeleine Albright.

The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová said that the former US Secretary of State played a major role in anchoring the Czech Republic in NATO.

Madeleine Albright was born in Prague to a Czech family in 1937. She grew up in the United Kingdom before entering a career in international relations. She served in the US Security Council before becoming Secretary of State during the presidency of Bill Clinton.