Senate nominates record number of candidates for state honours

The Senate has nominated a record 100 candidates for state honours including six members of the Mašín brothers' anti-communist resistance group, former deputy prime minister Karel Schwarzenberg, dissident singer Marta Kubišová and the London-based architect Eva Jiřičná. Nominees for state honours are proposed to the president by both chambers of Parliament but also members of the broad public. It is then up to the head of state to make a final selection. Awards and high state distinctions are handed out on Czechoslovak Independence Day, October 28 and on January 1.