President Petr Pavel, Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) and other state representatives today commemorated the 106th anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia on 28 October 1918, laying wreaths at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National Memorial at Vitkov in Prague.

Representatives of the army, the church, the City of Prague, and war veterans also took part in the traditional ceremony, which was accompanied by a flyover of military planes and helicopters.

As every year, soldiers brought historical army banners to the courtyard of the Vitkov Memorial, accompanied by the 15th-century Hussite war chant “Who Are Warriors of God”. The military ensemble then played the national anthem.

After the wreath-laying ceremony, a salute of honour followed in memory of the fallen soldiers. At the end of the commemoration, the soldiers marched off in a ceremonial parade and three Viper and Venom helicopters, two Alca fighter jets and two Gripen fighter jets flew over the site.

Wreaths were laid at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Pavel, Fiala, Senate Speaker Milos Vystrcil (ODS), Chamber of Deputies Speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova (TOP 09), Chief of the General Staff Karel Rehka, Defence Minister Jana Cernochova (ODS), Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS), and Prague Archbishop Jan Graubner, the primate of the Czech Catholic Church.

Representatives of the opposition also attended the ceremony, including ANO deputy group head Alena Schillerova and ANO shadow prime minister Karel Havlicek. Those present observed a minute of silence in memory of the fallen soldiers.

“We must take care of our independence, our democracy, our freedom,” Fiala told reporters, noting the fragility of these values. He said today’s national holiday also commemorated the bravery and determination of those who had completed the decades-long efforts to establish an independent state. These values must be defended and passed on to the next generation, he stressed.

The president laid a wreath at the Masaryk memorial in Hradcany square. Credit: Tomas Fongus/hrad.cz

Vystrcil paraphrased the famous sentence of the first Czechoslovak President Tomas Garrigue Masaryk (president from 1918-1935), that “Czechoslovakia already has democracy, but now it needs democrats”. The Czech Republic already has democrats and now they need to be taught to defend democracy and freedom, not only in the Czech Republic but also in neighbouring countries, he said. 

“Today, given what is happening around us, we should especially lend a helping hand,” he added, in an apparent reference to Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression.

Pekarova Adamova wished the state and its citizens a free and democratic future. Citizens can decide about that for themselves in elections or even get involved, she told reporters.

After this, President Pavel and other state representatives, including Vystrcil and other members of the Senate such as Miroslava Nemcova (ODS), Jitka Seitlova (KDU-CSL), Jiri Ruzicka, Pavel Fischer (both TOP 09) and Robert Slachta (Prisaha), laid wreaths at the monument to Masaryk on Prague’s Hradcany Square. After the senators, Social Democrat leader Jana Malacova and deputy leader Lubomir Zaoralek laid flowers at the Masaryk statue.

This commemorative act was not accompanied by a speech, and the president did not give a statement to the journalists present.

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Vystrcil greeted people watching the commemoration and invited them to the open day in the Senate. He said the celebrations of the anniversary of the founding of independent Czechoslovakia were a message for today that democracy and freedom must be valued and defended. He said he wanted people to realise that in some other countries there is no democracy, people are oppressed, and their territory is occupied by an aggressor.

Between 200 and 300 people came to the square, most of them applauding the head of state. One woman called Pavel a supporter of war in relation to the conflict in the Middle East and Czech support for Israel. A man with a Palestinian flag also protested near the Masaryk statue before the act.

Around noon, the president appointed new generals, and in the evening, he will present state orders and medals to 56 personalities at Prague Castle.

Events commemorating the establishment of the first independent republic have also been held today in other places around the Czech Republic.

The memorial at Vitkov was built between 1929 and 1938 to honour the Czechoslovak legionnaires, members of the Legions voluntary units that contributed to the establishment of the independent Czechoslovakia and fought against the Bolsheviks in Russia.

After the communists seized power in Czechoslovakia in 1948, the site was used to promote the communist regime, and prominent representatives of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia were buried there. In 1953, the Mausoleum of Klement Gottwald, the first communist president (1948-53), was created in the memorial. After the fall of communism in 1989, all those buried at the site were taken away, and the memorial is now administered by the National Museum.