České Budějovice annuls honorary citizenship for Stalin and Gottwald

České Budějovice has annulled honorary citizenship it awarded in the past to Czechoslovak Communist politician Klement Gottwald and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Councillors in the South Bohemian city voted for the move on Monday. Both Gottwald and Stalin received the honour in 1945. České Budějovice mayor Jiří Svoboda said there had been reasons to recognize them then, prior to their actions of the 1950s. The most recent recipient of honorary citizenship in České Budějovice was Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova in 1979.

Author: Ian Willoughby