Czech senator Petr Pithart honoured by France

Czech senator Petr Pithart was made a knight of France's "Legion of Honour" on Tuesday. The ceremony, presided over by Christian Poncelet, the president of the French senate, took place at the historic Czech embassy in Paris. The embassy officially reopens Tuesday night after two years of reconstruction. Poncelet praised Pithart as a former dissident who remained engaged in politics by working to further European integration. He also praised Pithart for supporting the French position during the lead-up to the war in Iraq. Other Czechs in the Legion of Honour include former Czechoslovak presidents Tomas Garrigue Masaryk and Vaclav Havel, as well as the writer Milan Kundera and director Milos Forman.