Prague/Munich, Aug 11 (CTK) – The German Ackermann-Gemeinde association has bestowed its highest award, the Medal of Reconciliation, on former Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg, chairman of the opposition TOP 09, it said in a press release it sent to CTK Tuesday.
The award commemorates Hans Schuetz, a lawmaker in the inter-war Czechoslovakia, who was transferred after World War Two to Bavaria where he continued to be politically active.
He focused on the issue of the Germans transferred from Czechoslovakia after the war.
Schuetz was a co-founder of Ackermann-Gemeinde in Germany.
The association bestows the medal on those seeking a rectification of past lawlessness and suffering, who contribute to good neighbourly relations between the Czechs and Slovaks on the one hand and the Germans on the other, and who seek promotion of European unity.
The Czechs awarded in the past include Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, Plzen Bishop Frantisek Radkovsky and the NGO Antikomplex that focuses on a critical reflection on the history of the Czech Lands.
Ackermann-Gemeinde held a four-day meeting in Ceske Budejovice, south Bohemia, until Sunday.
