Related articles

President Miloš Zeman will pay at least one visit to Russia this year, the news site Parlamentnilisty.cz reports citing his spokesman Jiří Ovčáček. According to the president’s spokesman the Czech head of state has already accepted an invitation to take part in Moscow’s celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two. President Zeman has likewise received an invitation for a state visit to Russia in the fall of this year, though this visit has not yet been confirmed. The Czech president has come under fire for allegedly fostering close ties with Russia and the Washington Post recently described the Czech head of state as a "virtual mouthpiece for Russian President Vladimir Putin".

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has rejected an appeal by Bavarian Social Affairs Minister Emilia Müller for Prague to consider rescinding the Beneš decrees which sanctioned the post-war expulsion of 2.5 million Sudeten Germans from the border areas of Czechoslovakia. Ms. Müller said at a meeting of the Sudeten German Landsmannschaft that the decrees were unjust and have no place in the European legal order. The Czech prime minister countered that this painful chapter of Czech-German history had been addressed in the 1997 Czech-German declaration and the Czech government had no reason to question the validity of the decrees or reopen painful issues relating to WWII.

No members of the centre-left government led by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka have attended a banquet at the Russian embassy in Prague marking Victory Day (69 years this Friday since Nazi Germany capitulated to the Soviet Union). Czechs mark the end of WW II a day earlier, on May 8. The Czech news daily Právo writes that although government representatives did not take part, other politicians, such as the leader of the Communist Party Vojtěch Filip, were expected. Former president Václav Klaus also attended.

Earlier, the chairman of the lower house, Jan Hamáček, attended a ceremony at Prague’s Olšany cemetery, laying a wreath in the memory of 140,000 Soviet soldiers who died on Czechoslovak soil fighting against Nazi Germany.

Czech president Miloš Zeman led a commemoration by war veterans, army staff, politicians, and citizens of the 69th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe at Prague’s Vítkov memorial on Thursday. Similar events were held around the country. The traditional Vítkov commemoration included a minute’s silence for all those who were killed as a result of the conflict. Defense minister Martin Stropnický told journalists that commemorations of such a kind were necessary, especially given the context of the current unrest in Ukraine. Thursday is a national holiday in the Czech Republic.

Hundreds of people including war veterans and Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and other politicians attended an event in Plzeň on Tuesday evening marking the 69th anniversary of the liberation of the West Bohemian city at the end of WWII. The gathering, held at a monument entitled Thanks, America!, was the culmination of the five-day Celebration of Freedom. Plzeň was liberated by the US army on May 6 1945.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka on Monday marked the 69th anniversary of the Prague Uprising of May 1945. Speaking at a ceremony outside the Czech Radio building in the centre of the capital, Mr Sobotka rejected attempts to diminish the uprising’s military significance, and said it was crucial in facilitating the liberation of the country. Around 30,000 people stood up against Nazi troops in early May in Prague; some of the heaviest fighting occurred outside the Czech Radio building in Prague’s Vinohrady district.

Cardinal Dominik Duka took part in a commemorative ceremony for Romany victims of the Holocaust at the Lety memorial in southern Bohemia on Monday. The event was attended by a number of foreign ambassadors, cultural dignitaries and Roma representatives. Czech political leaders were notably absent this year, with the exception of the deputy speaker of the Senate Miluše Horská. The Lety memorial, unveiled in 1995 by then president Václav Havel, is situated close to the site of a former concentration camp for Romanies where 300 Romany prisoners lost their lives and from where hundreds of others were transported to the Auschwitz extermination camp. The fact that a pig farm is located on the site of the former camp has been the source of considerable controversy and embarrassment to the Czech government which says it does not have the money to relocate it.

Czechs commemorate the end of the Second World War on Wednesday, a public holiday in the Czech Republic. Events marking Liberation Day are held across the country; President Miloš Zeman marked the anniversary at Prague’s Vítkov Hill where a military parade was held. The event was attended by other Czech officials including Prime Minister Petr Nečas, the speaker of the lower house, Miroslava Němcová, the defence minister, the chief of the Czech Army’s general staff, and the head of the Catholic Church, Archbishop Dominik Duka. President Zeman will also appoint new generals of the Czech Army on Wednesday. The Czech Parliament as well as the country’s Foreign Ministry hold an open day on Wednesday, allowing visitors to view the interiors of the buildings.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is holding an open day on Wednesday, which is the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe and a state holiday in the Czech Republic. Visitors will be able to enjoy a rare opportunity to view the interior of the Černín Palace, including what was once Jan Masaryk’s apartment, between 10 AM and 4 PM. The building’s gardens will host an event featuring live music celebrating Croatia’s accession to the European Union in July. The Senate will also be open to the public on Wednesday, from 10 AM to 5 PM.

A number of ceremonies in Prague taking place throughout Sunday commemorated the 68th anniversary of the Czech uprising against the Nazi occupation at the end of World War Two. Defense Minister Vlastimil Picek and Prague mayor Bohuslav Svoboda attended a remembrance ceremony for those who died during the uprising, which was started by the Czech resistance on May 5th, 1945. President Miloš Zeman and top-level politicians attended the traditional ceremony in front of the main Czech Radio building on Vinohradská street, where the first conflict between the German SS units and members of the resistance and Czech police took place and 89 people died during the fighting. The Czech Radio broadcast on May 5 calling for Czechs to defend Prague is said to have set-off the uprising.

Celebrations in the west Bohemian Plzeň marking the anniversary of its liberation by American troops on May 6, 1945 have been taking place since Friday. On Sunday, Plzeň is hosting a traditional procession of historical military vehicles, gatherings of war veterans and re-enactments of military life during World War Two.