Related articles

Former president Václav Havel and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg among six personalities who signed a statement calling on the international community to increase pressure on China in connection with the protests in Tibet. Other signatories include former South African president Frederik de Klerk, Japanese philanthropist Yohei Sasakawa, Jordanian prince Hassan bin Talal and French philosopher Andre Gluckmann. All of them are associated with the debate meeting Forum 2000, annually held in Prague and organised by Mr Havel. The statement calls on the Chinese government to enter into a dialogue with Tibetan people and release those who were arrested.

The former Czech president Václav Havel has expressed strong criticism of the current regime in Russia in an interview for the newspaper Lidové noviny. Mr Havel said the era of President Vladimir Putin represented a new kind of dictatorship. He said Moscow was not opposed to a radar base the US wants to build in the Czech Republic in its own right, but disliked the fact the radar would be in a sphere where it believes it should make decisions. Regarding the positive position towards Russia adopted by the current Czech president, Václav Klaus, Mr Havel said there was no reason to have lunch with Mr Putin; on the contrary, difficult questions should be put to the Russian leader, he said.

The violent suppression of freedom protests in Lhasa by the Chinese military over the weekend sparked a show of international solidarity with Tibet, with street protests in many world cities and governments appealing for restraint. In the Czech Republic, a country which overthrew communist rule less than two decades ago, the violence in Tibet has touched on a raw nerve.

Former Czech president Václav Havel has criticized a lack of real change in Cuba following Fidel’s Castro resignation. In a letter published by the Prague-based International Committee for Democracy in Cuba, Mr Havel and former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar regretted that the stepping down of Castro was not meant to install democracy but to perpetuate tyranny. The Czech Republic has traditionally been very active within the European Union in promoting freedom and democracy in Cuba.

Citizen Havel – a fly-on-the-wall documentary following former head of state Václav Havel through two presidential terms - has been a big success amongst Czech cinemagoers since its release two weeks ago. But how will foreign audiences react to the film? Last night, Citizen Havel was premiered to an international audience at the Berlin Film Festival. Czech journalist Tereza Brdečková was there, she described the atmosphere at the event:

We have heard plenty in recent weeks from the two candidates in this year’s Czech presidential elections. But what about their predecessors? The Czech Republic and previously Czechoslovakia have had ten presidents since 1918 when Czechoslovakia was founded, and in this programme we let some of them speak for themselves through Czech Radio’s archives.

Former Czech president Václav Havel was released from Prague’s Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine on Saturday, where he was hospitalised on January 19 with chronic bronchitis and a heart problem. Due to his hospitalization, he missed the premiere of Citizen Havel - a documentary film made in his honour.

Former Czech president Václav Havel’s state of health has much improved and he is expected to be out of hospital in the days to come. The head of Prague’s Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine made the announcement on Friday evening. Mr Havel was originally supposed to be released on Saturday. Václav Havel, who is 71, was hospitalized on January 19 with chronic bronchitis and a heart problem. Due to his hospitalization, he missed the premiere of Citizen Havel - a documentary film made in his honour.

Citizen Havel, a new fly-on-the-wall documentary about the former Czech president, premiered on Wednesday night in Prague. The film draws on 45 hours of unique behind-the-scenes footage of Václav Havel shot over a period of 13 years. The result is a film that lifts the curtain on the Havel presidency, in a way that no other politician has been captured on screen before.

The premiere of the documentary Občan Havel (Citizen Havel) is taking place at Prague’s Slovanský Dům on Wednesday evening. The film was 15 years in the making and offers a behind-the-scenes look at Václav Havel’s tenure as Czech president. When original director Pavel Koutecký died during the making of another film in 2006, Občan Havel was completed by Miroslav Janek. The former playwright and dissident, who is 71, will not be attending the premiere; Mr Havel has been in hospital for nearly two weeks after suffering from minor heart problems.