Outgoing Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová presented with two awards on Czech “farewell” trip

Outgoing Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová was presented with the Vision for Europe award in Prague on Thursday, given to people dedicated to furthering European ideals and values. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský gave her the award at the Prague European Summit which took place at the Foreign Ministry.

For her part, Čaputová said in her speech at the summit that EU consensus had been weakened by many crises, and that although there was overall agreement that Europe should be strong, secure, democratic, and socially just, the challenge was translating that vision into reality in times of crisis, as only extremist forces stand to benefit from the polarisation of society.

Later on Thursday, the Slovak president was awarded the Order of the White Lion, Czechia’s highest state distinction, by Czech President Petr Pavel at Prague Castle for her contribution to the development of relations between the two countries. Ms. Čaputová in turn then awarded the Czech president with Slovakia's highest state award, the Order of the White Double Cross.