BRATISLAVA, December 22, (WEBNOVINY) — The Slovak delegation at Friday’s state funeral of former Czech and Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel will be led by President Ivan Gasparovic. As his spokesman Marek Trubac further informed, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova, former President Rudolf Schuster, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Milan Hort and Foreign Affairs Minister Mikulas Dzurinda are also to participate. Speaker of Parliament Pavol Hrusovsky will have to remain in Slovakia as the only one of three most senior state officials of the Slovak Republic.
Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic and later of Czech Republic, died on Sunday, December 18 in his weekend residence in the Czech village of Hradecek at the age of 75.
The funeral will be taking place on Friday, December 23, in Prague St. Vitus Cathedral with senior government officials and personalities from all over the world participating, among them European Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso, European Parliament Speaker Jerzy Buzek, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, President of Israel Simon Peres and his Hungarian and German counterparts Pal Schmitt and Christian Wulff. Former Polish President Lech Walesa should also participate. Austrian President Heinz Fischer, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Russian ombudsman Vladimir Lukin and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with her husband, former President Bill Clinton are also expected to attend the funeral.
Vaclav Havel will be buried in his family crypt at the Vinohrady Cemetery in the Czech capital.
SITA