Czech President Petr Pavel and First Lady visit Museum of Romani Culture as part of their active support for the Romani community
The Czech President has visited the Museum of Romani Culture after paying two visits to the Lety u Písku Memorial to the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti in Bohemia (which the museum administers). His first visit there was last year on the occasion of the traditional commemorative ceremony in May honoring the memories of the victims of that camp. The second visit was in April of this year during the ceremonial opening of the memorial.
During their visit to the museum, the President and First Lady saw its extensive permanent exhibition “The Story of the Roma” and the temporary exhibition “Black Butterfly“. They also met the employees and were guided through the permanent exhibition by the director as well as by an experienced educator, both of Romani origin. The meeting was also attended by a Deputy Czech Culture Minister and a press spokesperson.
Pavel has taken an active approach toward the Romani community ever since his election, welcoming Romani scholarship students to Prague Castle as part of International Romani Day as a continuance of such moves by the late President Václav Havel, and becoming only the second president to ever attend a commemorative ceremony at Lety u Písku. When Romani community member Robin Stria suddenly and unexpectedly passed away in 2023, the president sent his wife personal condolences and also sent a video message remembering Robin’s involvement with his campaign when Robin was posthumously awarded the Museum of Romani Culture Prize in memoriam.
“The Museum of Romani Culture perceives the president’s interest in Romani people and in questions of coexistence as quite positive and sensitive. During his brief time in office he has repeatedly shown interest in this minority and set a brilliant example for other top politicians,” the director told news server Romea.cz, adding that he is the third president to visit the museum besides Havel with his spouse Dagmar and Václav Klaus with his spouse Livia.
“It was my great honor to welcome the president on behalf of the Czech Culture Ministry to the Museum of Romani Culture. I appreciate that the president has an active relationship to the subjects covered by the Museum of Romani Culture. I greatly appreciate that he supported the opening of the Lety u Písku Memorial to the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti this year, which finally managed to be opened to the public. It’s important both from the standpoint of coming to terms with the past and from the standpoint of shaping the future of our society,” said Deputy Culture Minister Ondřej Chrást.
Pavel closed his visit to the museum by greeting the participants in an international meeting organized by ROMEA as part of the RadiRights project. The project concentrates on combating disinformation and supporting democratic rights in Romani communities in several European countries, including the Czech Republic.
