Washington-DC: On Thursday 8 December, the Embassy of Czech Republic in Washington DC hosted its annual ‘Mitterand’ breakfast at the Residence of the Czech Ambassador. Representative Namgyal Choedup of the Office of Tibet, Washington DC accompanied by Chinese Liaison Officer Tsultrim Gyatso attended the event. The event was attended by participants from European Union Delegation to the US and human rights activists and democracy campaigners from Burma, Cuba, Venezuela, and Tibet.
Czech Ambassador Miloslav Stašek warmly greeted the guests at the breakfast and highlighted the event as honouring a famous French gesture of support for Czechoslovak dissidents under communism by hosting breakfasts with human right activists and democracy campaigners. He said the breakfast meeting commemorates a famous breakfast at Prague’s Embassy in Paris on December 9, 1988, when then French president François Mitterrand held talks with Czechoslovak dissidents in a significant gesture of support. Mitterrand had invited dissidents and Charter 77 signatories, including Václav Havel, to the French embassy for the meeting during a visit to Czechoslovakia earlier that year. The French president’s visit helped spur the Czechoslovak regime to grant official permission for an opposition rally to be held on Human Rights Day on December 10, 1988 in Prague’s Žižkov district.
Ambassador Miloslav further shared his personal connections with the struggles of each of the representatives from Burma, Cuba, Venezuela, and Tibet. He highlighted human rights as one of the top priorities of Czech Republic’s foreign policy. With regard to Tibet, Ambassador Miloslav recalled his time as the Czech Ambassador to India and how he cherished the opportunity of hosting His Holiness the Dalai Lama one time on His birthday in Delhi, India.
Representative Namgyal personally thanked the Ambassador for the official invitation and recollected the memories of friendship between Czech and Tibet through previous ambassadors in Washington DC. He further expressed deep appreciation to the Czech people for their support and how their support and principled stand against People’s Republic of China despite all the threats and pressures is a huge source of moral strength and inspiration to the Tibetan people. The sumptuous breakfast was accompanied by lively interactions between the representatives.
Czech Ambassador Miloslav Stašek greets Representative Namgyal Choedup.
