President Klaus hails Havel as hero of 1989

President Václav Klaus has hailed his predecessor in office Václav Havel as the central figure of the Velvet Revolution which toppled the communist regime. Sitting next to Mr. Havel at a concert to mark 20 years of freedom and democracy, Mr. Klaus had warm words for his ideological rival, saying that whatever differences they may have on internal and external issues, he perceives Václav Havel as the man who had made all this possible, the central figure of the Velvet Revolution. He said it was now up to the Czechs how they would use the freedom they had acquired.