President Zeman clarifies decision not to invite rectors

In related news, President Miloš Zeman on Friday clarified the reasons behind his decision not to invite two university rectors to Monday’s celebrations of Czechoslovak Independence Day. The rector of Brno’s Masaryk University, Mikuláš Bek prevented the president from giving a lecture to university students during his visit to Brno last month over concerns of political campaigning; President Zeman said on Friday he considered the refusal an insult to the head of state. The other rector omitted from the guest list, Libor Grubhoffer from the South Bohemian University, meanwhile, was not invited because he backed literary historian Martin C. Putna whom the president refused to appoint professor.

Author: Jan Richter