Statement by Petr Nečas, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, on the Death of Jiří Dienstbier

It is with great sorrow that I received word of the death of Jiří Dienstbier. At this moment I mainly want to express my condolences to his family. Jiří Dienstbier was an important figure in Czech politics up until his service in the Senate.

I respect him for the civic stand he took during the totalitarian era. After 1989 he was among the key people who formed Czechoslovak and later Czech foreign relations. He was there when the Iron Curtain fell and when our country, after the era of communist darkness, returned to its place among advanced democratic states.

It is for these reasons that I have always considered his efforts to be a great benefit to our society.

Petr Nečas, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic