St.Paul, USA, April 2 (CTK special correspondent) – On Saturday, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka met expatriates in the building of the local Sokol (Falcon) Czech sport organisation in St. Paul, Minnesota where some 85,000 people with Czech roots live.
Some 300 of them attended the meeting with Sobotka. They welcomed him with giant puppets, traditional folk costumes as well as bread and salt.
Sobotka told them he had arrived in the United States to support bilateral relations, and in particular to Minnesota since the history of both countries had a lot in common.
„The American Sokol plays a very important role in preserving the Czech identity and our cultural heritage,” Sobotka said.
The relations between the Czech Republic and Minnesota, where the Czech community has been living for 150 let, are strong even tody in many areas, including science and research, health care and students’ exchange stays, Sobotka said in his short speech.
The U.S. Mayo Clinic, which has cooperated with the St Anne Teaching Hospital in Brno for several years, is seated exactly in Minnesota.
Earlier on Saturday, Sobotka bestowed the Karel Kramar medal in memoriam on Charles Proshek, a significant physician in Minneapolis and former Czechoslovak honorary consul.
In the morning, Sobotka talked to Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, primarily about bilateral economic cooperation.
