President Pavel takes part in Lety memorial event

President Petr Pavel and the speakers of both houses of the Czech Parliament, Markéta Adamová Pekarová and Miloš Vyštrcil, took part in a memorial ceremony at the site of the World War II concentration camp for Roma at Lety in South Bohemia.

Mr. Pavel told the assembled that there was still room for improvement in the majority society’s relations with the Roma minority. He was the first Czech president to attend the annual event since Václav Havel in the 1990s.

A large pig farm was built at the site in the 1970s. After years of discussion it was bought by the state in 2018; the pig farm has since been razed and a memorial to victims of the Roma and Sinti Holocaust in Bohemia is due to be unveiled next year.