Vondra hands out awards

Prague, Oct 26 (CTK) - Czech Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra (Civic Democrats, ODS) Friday presented ministerial awards to army veterans, members of recent military missions and also significant personalities on the eve of the state holiday marking the anniversary of Czechoslovakia's birth on October 28, 1918.

Those awarded include arts promoter and sponsor Meda Mladkova, kayaker Stepanka Hilgertova and neurosurgeon Vladimir Benes, who were presented with the Golden Linden award.

The State Defence Cross went to World War Two heroes including lieutenant colonel Karel Serak and general Frantisek Vejmelka in memoriam, and also to soldiers participating in the Czech military's current missions.

Vondra presented a total of 48 awards at the ceremony in Prague's Vitkov National Memorial.

"There are both soldiers and civilians among you, but you have one thing in common: you are outstanding people, in terms of your personal qualities and professionalism," Vondra told those awarded.

He pointed to the heroism of the fighters on both WW2 fronts as well as the movements of resistance against the Nazis and later against the Communist regime.

The present soldiers are establishing new military traditions and spreading the Czech Republic's good name in the world, he said.

"Where totalitarianism decided to scrap morals and history, you used words and weapons to fight for a new hope," Vondra said.

Mladkova, known as a collector and promoter of Frantisek Kupka, Czech-born pioneer of abstract painting, was awarded for her contribution to Czech culture.

Benes, head physician of Prague's Central Military Hospital's neurosurgical clinic, is a specialist enjoying respect at home and abroad.

Hilgertova was awarded for her sport achievements including the golds at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympic games in 1996 and 2000.

Vejmelka was awarded in memoriam for his leading role in the May 1945 anti-Nazi Prague Uprising.

Serak, a war tank crew member, lost two tanks in the wartime eastern front fights and reached Prague on the third. He is the last living tank commander from the 1st Czechoslovak tank unit established in the then Soviet Union.

Of the present soldiers awarded, captain Milan Zahorsky is a helicopter pilot who has participated in nine foreign missions since 1992. Miroslav Hlavac is the chief commander of the rapid reaction unit from Zatec, north Bohemia, and Jan Oesterreicher heads the military hospital in Hradec Kralove, east Bohemia.

Awards also went to pro-democracy Charter 77 signatory Zina Hamon Freundova and lawyer and former justice minister Dagmar Buresova.