[Vaclav] Havel, leader of "Velvet Revolution," dies

Vaclav Havel

A man places a candle in tribute to late former Czech President Vaclav Havel at Wenceslas Square in Prague December 18, 2011. Vaclav Havel, a dissident playwright who was jailed by Communists and then went on to lead the bloodless ''Velvet Revolution'' and become Czech president, died at 75 on Sunday. The words on the placard (bottom L) reads: ''We thank you''. Credit: Reuters/David W Cerny

People light candles and hold the national flag in tribute to late former Czech President Vaclav Havel at Wenceslas Square in Prague December 18, 2011. Credit: REUTERS/David W Cerny

Sun Dec 18, 2011
By Michael Winfrey and Jana Mlcochova

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Vaclav Havel, an anti-Communist playwright who became Czech president and a worldwide symbol of peace and freedom after leading the bloodless "Velvet Revolution," died at the age of 75 on Sunday.

The former chain smoker died at his country home in Hradecek, north of Prague, of a long respiratory illness after surviving operations for lung cancer and a burst intestine in the late 1990s that left him frail for more than a decade.

The diminutive playwright, who invited the Rolling Stones to medieval Prague castle, took Bill Clinton to a smoky Prague jazz club to play saxophone and was a friend of the Dalai Lama, rose to fame after facing down Prague's Communist rulers.

Will it be Dr. King Sihamoni or King Dr. Sihamoni, or simply Dr. "Dancing King"?

Cambodian king receives honorary doctorate in Prague

AMU professor Bozena Brodska recalled that Sihamoni is known as a "dancing king" in Europe, same as Louis XIV of France in the 17th century.

Prague, March 19 (CTK) - King of Cambodia Norodom Sihamoni Friday received an honorary doctorate at the Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) in Prague from which he graduated in the 1970s, majoring in dancing.

The king thanked to all his former teachers, especially to the late Olga Paskova.

He said he considers the doctorate not only a personal award but a symbol of long-lasting friendly relations between the Czech Republic and Cambodia.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Jan Fischer and his wife, former president Vaclav Havel and Livia Klausova, wife of President Klaus.

AMU professor Bozena Brodska recalled that Sihamoni is known as a "dancing king" in Europe, same as Louis XIV of France in the 17th century.

Brodska said Norodom Sihamoni was sent to Prague as he was highly interested in the development of the Cambodian royal ballet company. He was aged nine then, she said.

Sihamoni lived in then Czechoslovakia in 1962-1975. He called Prague his second home during his previous visit in 2006.

The AMU honorary doctorate winners include Havel, Czech film directors Milos Forman and Jan Svankmajer, and Russian director Oleg Tabakov.

Sihamoni, 56, who speaks Czech, has been on a week-long private visit to the Czech Republic since Sunday.

Klaus hosts dinner for Cambodian king

Czech Republic's President Vaclav Klaus (R) and his wife Livia welcome Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni (L) at Prague Castle in Prague March 18, 2010

Prague, March 18 (CTK) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus and his wife Livia hosted a gala dinner for King of Cambodia Norodom Sihamoni, followed by a concert by the child choir Zvonecek (Small Bell), yesterday.

Simahoni, who speaks Czech, has been on a private week-long visit to the Czech Republic since Sunday.

Klaus and Sihamoni had a 20-minute eye-on-eye meeting before the dinner.

The concert held at the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle in honour of Sihamoni was also attended by Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer and his wife, Education Minister Miroslava Kopicova and other guests.

Klaus and Sihamoni also met four years ago. They called for the development of Czech-Cambodian relations at all levels.

On Friday, Sihamoni will be granted an honorary doctor's degree at the Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) from which he had graduated.

Sihamoni, 56, says he considers the Czech Republic his second homeland. He attended primary and secondary schools in Prague and then graduated from AMU at which he studied ballet.

Sihamoni arrived in Prague at the age of nine. The Czechoslovak embassy in Paris was the sole institution that reacted to his parents' effort to secure dancing education for him.

During his previous private visit to the Czech Republic in 2006, Sihamoni was granted Prague's honorary citizenship, becoming the first king to hold the title.

Cambodian king visits Czech Republic

Tuesday 16th March, 2010
LateRooms.com

King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia has begun an official visit to the Czech Republic.

Sihamoni spent 13 years in the former Czechoslovakia as a youngster after he was sent there by his father King Norodom Sihanouk to study ballet. Aged eleven, the then-prince performed in Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker at the Prague National Ballet.

On his arrival in Prague, Sihamoni said: "I am overjoyed to be back in a country which was and always will be my second homeland."

The king’s visit will last for a week and aims to improve relations between Cambodia and the Czech Republic.

Sihamoni is fluent in the language of the European country, a feat described as "truly exceptional" by Czech president Vaclav Klaus.

Prague has long been a hotspot for tourists and millions of people stay at Prague hotels each year. Both the city’s turbulent history and its bustling nightlife attract visitors from across the globe.

Cambodian king visits Czech Republic

Monday, March 15, 2010
AFP

PRAGUE — Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni began on Sunday a week-long private visit to the Czech Republic where the monarch lived for 13 years in his youth, the CTK Czech news agency reported.

Sihamoni arrived in the country, which he considers as his "second homeland", in 1962 as a nine year old to devote himself to the art of dance.

The future king attended a primary school with Czechs, then a dance school and finally a college for music, ballet and dramatic arts.

Sihamoni, who speaks fluent Czech, is to receive an honorary doctorate from his former college and meet with former teachers and classmates during the visit. He is to meet with Czech President Vaclav Klaus on Thursday.

He first appeared on the stage of the Prague National Theatre at the age of 11 in a production of Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker".

Sihamoni is the son of former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk and his wife, Monineath.

Czech Republic Cancels Cambodian Debt

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
13 May 2008

Cambodia will be excused a debt of more than $3 million it ran up during the Cold War of the 1980s, Czech Republic officials said Tuesday.

The debt was canceled at a singing ceremony Monday, officials said.

The debt was a holdover from the former communist Czechoslovakia, Czech Deputy Finance Minister Toma Zibek told a press conference Tuesday.

“After half a year of communication between our officials and experts from the Cambodian Ministry of Finance, we agreed on this amount of money and we’ve solved it,” he said. “We have told the Cambodian government it does not need to pay this money back to our country.”

Cambodia owed the money for the purchase of arms and other supplies for its domestic needs.

The Czech cancellation would also come with a package for development projects for energy, the environment, health care and education, Finance Minister Keat Chhon said.

Cambodia remains in debt to other countries. It owes the US about $339 million from the government of Lon Nol. It owes Russia $1.5 billion, though it has asked for the cancellation of that debt as well.

The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, has canceled $82 million in debt, claiming that Cambodia had maintained poverty reduction strategies, public administration and control of public spending.

Czech Republic to forgive 3/4 of public debt owed by Cambodia ... Cambodia also have secret debt owed to the CR as well

ČR to remit most of Cambodia's $3.6m debt

13 May 2008
By ČTK

Prague, May 12 (CTK) - The Czech Republic will forgive most of the debt worth $3.6m (Kc58m) to Cambodia which will have to pay a quarter of the amount, the Finance Ministry told CTK today.

The plan for the debt's reduction is part of a memorandum reps of the Czech Republic and Cambodia signed today.

The Czech Republic will use the paid money for development assistance.

Cambodia should pay 23 percent of the debt, that is Kc13m, to the Czech Republic and then the rest will be forgiven.

Both countries also signed an agreement on mutual protection of and support to investments.

At end-2006, the Czech Republic had Kc18.4bn claims on other world countries. The sum does not include special loans subject to the regime of secrecy.

The amount of money foreign countries owe to the Czech Republic has been falling in the long term.

When the independent Czech Republic was established in 1993, foreign countries owed Kc156bn to the Czech Republic, with Cuba being the biggest debtor.

The Finance Ministry had ranked claims on Cambodia as highly risky.

Czech Republic cancels Cambodia’s debt and turns the amount over to Cambodia for development

Saturday, January 18, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The Czech Republic declared that it cancels all past debts owed by Cambodia to the Czech Republic, and it turns this amount over to Cambodia for development. The Czech Republic takes the same action as all former communist friends did to the government of Cambodia. The debt cancellation was announced by Milan Sedláček, the director of Economic and Cultural Section of the ministry of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic, on 17 January, in Phnom Penh. Besides announcing the cancellation of the Czech debts, Milan Sedláček claimed that the Czech government supports the agreement for promoting and defending the investments by the two countries which the Cambodian government requested during the previous visit to Cambodia by the Czech minister of finance. Milan Sedláček said that the Czech Republic wants to push investments and expand cooperation in all fields, such as tourism, agriculture, etc… The Czech Republic also promised to provide scholarships for Cambodian students, and provide technical help for the automation of the Cambodian customs department.

[Czech] Party seeks to restore monarchy [... and the only fluent Czech-speaking king available is Norodom Sihamoni]

Koruna Ćeská would rebuild the ancient Czech Kingdom

December 26th, 2007
By Markéta Hulpachová
Staff Writer, The Prague Post

Former Prime Minister Miloš Zeman called them “one of the parties that could fit in an elevator.” Social Democrat Party Chairman Jiří Paroubek once referred to them as “not even small fish but plankton.”

The members of Koruna Česká a national party that wants to transform the government into a constitutional monarchy are used to condescendence.

But with between 400 and 500 members and government representation in four municipalities Koruna Česká is not just some farcical movement.

“We’re not satirists and we’re not some virtual party” says party Chairman Václav Srb. “We’re simply the political embodiment of a movement to reunify the historic territories of Bohemia Moravia and Silesia under the Czech crown.”

Today the crown jewels of the old Czech kingdom are locked away by seven keys asleep in a secured chamber within the St. Vitus Cathedral. But if Srb and his fellow party members have their way the storied St. Václav crown — the very same headpiece conceived by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in the 14th century — would once again adorn the head of a Czech monarch.

Koruna Česká was founded in 1990 as the reincarnation of České děti a monarchist movement that sprang up in the revolutionary atmosphere of 1988. That year the dissident members of České děti published a manifesto advocating the renewal of the Czech kingdom which was reprinted by communist newspaper Rudé právo in an effort to discredit the group. “By showing the public that the dissidents had become monarchists the comrades wanted to prove that [the dissidents] had gone completely insane” Srb says. “However it had the opposite effect.”

By publishing key passages of the manifesto Rudé právo brought the movement to the attention of dozens of like-minded individuals who had previously thought they were alone in their views. In 1991 over 400 people filled the Realistické (now Švandovo) theatre in Smíchov for Koruna Česká’s first official assembly. “Until then each of us thought that we were isolated in our persuasion” Srb says. “Every monarchist was therefore pleasantly surprised to learn that there were more of us who had found the same solution.”

Srb a historian says he came to the conclusion while studying central European wars and political conflicts of the 20th century. “Today not just the monarchists but any historian will admit that the fragmentation of the central Danube territory was nonsensical” Srb says. “By breaking up this territory which for centuries served as a buffer for outside invasion it was only a matter of time before these little countries fell prey to Germany or Russia.”

In the case of the Czech lands the Treaty of Versailles only ensured its security for the next 20 years when Hitler “stopped liking it” Srb says.

While he admits that the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not have survived without major reforms that would have increased the autonomy of individual regions “those reforms were already on the program — their implementation was only interrupted with the onset of World War I” Srb says.

Return of the king

Instead of its current republican form which he calls “unsettled” and “artificial” Srb and his fellow monarchists would strengthen the political integrity of the state by restoring the traditions of the Czech kingdom. To do this it would be essential to replace the current presidential institution with a royal one. Aside from Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk the venerated founding father of the Czechoslovak republic “an overwhelming majority of our presidents have been either outwardly criminal or pitiful” Srb says whereas locals continue to refer to Charles IV as the “most revered Czech persona.”

Unlike the president who is elected to his post the king would be groomed for his reign since childhood which would raise respect for his position and elevate him above politics Srb says.

Apart from gaining national support for their reforms the monarchists face the obvious challenge of finding a luminary who would be able and willing to take the crown.

According to Srb the most obvious choice would be former European Parliament representative Otto von Habsburg. As the eldest son of the last Austro-Hungarian emperor Charles the 95-year-old crown prince of Austria is the heir to the Czech throne.

But because the Habsburg dynasty was for decades demonized by local republicans “it’s understandable that this dynasty isn’t the right one at the moment” Srb says.

An alternate solution is to turn to foreign ruling dynasties. “I say if not the Habsburgs then anyone —let’s not be Eurocentric” says Srb whose own provocative suggestion is Norodom Sihamini the current king of Cambodia. “His father stowed him away here during Cambodia’s period of upheaval … he is the only currently ruling monarch in the world who is fluent in Czech.”

Regardless of the feasibility of its agenda Koruna česká’s presence on the political scene points to a deep disillusionment with the nation’s current identity. “Through our ideals we want to rehabilitate a non-pathetic cultured patriotism and the values that coincide with it” the party’s manifesto says.

“Although our republic is a woeful 90 years old it’s a negligible episode in our nation’s thousand years of statehood” Srb adds. “The old traditions still dwell in each of us but in most cases they’re asleep.”

It's OK for the Czech to adopt a penal code like Cambodia, but hopefully it won't follow the example of Cambodia notoriously corrupt judicial system

Czechs should follow Cambodian example -- Sudeten German leader

15.6. 2007
Author: ČTK
ČeskéNoviny.cz (Czech Republic)

Vienna - The Czech Republic should follow the example of Cambodia when dealing with its past, Gerhard Zeihsel, head of the Sudeten German Landsmannschaft in Austria, said today.

Zeihsel stressed that a new penal code was passed in Cambodia in recent days. Though with a several-year delay, it still allowed for the prosecution of the Khmer Rouge leaders from the 1970s, he added.

The developments in Cambodia should encourage the Czech Republic to cancel the 1946 amnesty law, Zeihsel said.

Under the legislation, all crimes committed on Sudeten Germans in 1945 were not punishable.

Zeihsel demands that "all the legislation be cancelled so that all perpetrators of the genocide on Sudeten Germans could be made accountable for their acts."

According to Czech authorities, the law amnestied the violations of the law arising from the anti-Nazi resistance and only partly related to the time of post-war deportation of Germans from Czechoslovakia.

If the law were cancelled, all anti-Nazi acts made within the resistance would automatically become illegal, which is unacceptable, Czech lawyers said.

The regime of Khmer Rouge, ruling in Cambodia in 1975-1979, killed some 1.7 to 3 million people.

Last year, the Cambodian government decided to establish a special international tribunal to try genocide crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge. It is to start working next year.

Some three million ethnic Germans were deported from post-war Czechoslovakia and their property was confiscated. Their leaders say that serious atrocities were committed during the transfer, which has been largely denied by Czech authorities.