Bratislava, Jan 1 (CTK) – Slovak President Andrej Kiska decorated Czech dissident pop singer Marta Kubisova, former prime minister and dissident Petr Pithart and opera singer Gabriela Benackova with the supreme Slovak decoration for foreigners, the Order of the White Double Cross, on Monday.
Kiska also decorated with the order cameraman Vladimir Jesina, born in the Czech Republic.
Kiska did so on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the birth of Slovakia and the demise of Czechoslovakia.
The Slovak paper Pravda writes that the number of all the decorated personalities, 25, is higher than in the past.
Last year, there were 20 and in 2015 only ten of them.
“The 25 decorated people is a symbol of the 25th anniversary of Slovakia. No doubt, all the selected personalities fulfil the high requirements for a presidential recognition,” the paper quotes analyst Michal Horsky as saying.
The Order of Ludovit Stur for the contribution to the development of democracy and in the sphere of culture was received by actress Zuzana Kronerova and a former politician, active at the time of the fall of the Communist regime, Fedor Gal.
The order was also given to Slovak journalist and political writer Martin Simecka as well as Slovak composer Peter Breiner who lives and works in the USA.
The Cross of Pribina was given to writer Rudolf Svoboda and actor Jozef Kroner, both in memoriam, and also to wheel-chaired pop singer Marika Gombitova.
