Slovak President Andrej Kiska received a gold medal from Masaryk University today at 10 am. After the ceremony, President Kiska spoke to students at the Faculty of Social Studies and met representatives of the City of Brno, including current Mayor Markéta Vaňková (ODS). Photo c
Brno, Jan 29 (BD) – The award ceremony launched the series of events celebrating the 100th anniversary of the school.
According to its Rector Mikuláš Bek (independent candidate of STAN), President Kiska deserves the medal for his contributions to civic society and humane social policy. At the award ceremony at the Faculty of Law, Kiska warned against populism and undermining confidence in the state.
“I accept this medal with gratitude to all those who, though at times marked by disappointment and overwhelmed by hatred, profess and practice a democratic ethos without which those values would have been long lost,” said Kiska at the ceremony. He also mentioned the 5,000 Slovaks who are studying among the 32,500 MU students.
Andrej Kiska and Mikuláš Bek. Source: Instagram of Masaryk University.
According to Czech media, Czech President Milos Zeman did not receive any invitation. Czech news website Seznamzpravy.cz reports that, according to Bek, it is unlikely that Zeman’s attitude towards Masaryk University would change. Due to past differences of opinion, Zeman stopped inviting Bek and other university rectors for October 28 celebrations at Prague Castle. Responding to a question from Seznamzpravy.cz about what the president thought about his non-participation in Brno, his spokesman Jiří Ovčáček responded briefly: “Not at all.” The invitation was sent to representatives of the City of Brno and the South Moravian Region, as well as the Minister of Education.
This year Brno’s Masaryk University celebrates its 100th anniversary. Golden medals were given to: Karol Mičieta, the rector of Comenius University in Bratislava; Ivo Medek, former rector of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts; Václav Račanský, one of the founders of the Faculty of Informatics and the long-time head of MU’s Institute of Computer Science; and Petr Fiala, the Emeritus Rector of Masaryk University who is currently the leader of the opposition Civic Democratic Party (ODS). Read more in our previous article: Brno’s Masaryk University, the Second Largest University in the Czech Republic, Celebrates Its Centenary.
In photos: Andrej Kiska and Markéta Vaňková. Credit: MMB.
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