PM Fiala pays tribute to Václav Havel at US Congress

Prime Minister Petr Fiala paid tribute to Václav Havel during his visit to the US Congress on Tuesday. On the occasion, he presented Congressmen Lloyd Doggett and Mario Díaz-Balart, who jointly lead the informal Friends of the Czech Republic group, with silver commemorative coins at the bust of the late Czech president.

The bust of the first Czech President Havel was unveiled at the US Congress in November 2014. Havel, whose bust was created by Czech-American sculptor Lubomír Janečka, was only the fourth European to be honoured this way, after Winston Churchill, Raoul Wallenberg and Lajos Kossuth.

At the end of his visit to the US, the Czech head of government will also commemorate the first Czechoslovak President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk at his statue in the diplomatic quarter.