Peace and freedom need everyone’s contribution, Pavel says on Veterans Day

Peace and freedom cannot simply be demanded from the government but require contributions from everyone, President Petr Pavel said at Prague’s Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday.

Speaking at the National Memorial on Vítkov, Pavel linked remembrance of past sacrifices with the continuing consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Military personnel, veterans’ organizations, politicians and members of the public attended the ceremony, laying wreaths to honor those who served and died.

Pavel said people were still dying and losing what mattered most to them in conflicts whose consequences extended beyond the places where fighting occurred.

Those consequences already affected Czechia and could become more serious if the war did not end with an at least partially just peace for Ukraine as the country under attack, he said.

“It is therefore important that we see freedom and peace as something for which we must sacrifice something and to which each of us must contribute,” Pavel said.

Defense Minister Jaromír Zůna and Chief of the General Staff Miroslav Hlaváč also presented military honors.

Four people received the defense minister’s Cross of State Defense posthumously: Josef Plachý, recognized for helping liberate the country from Nazi occupation; RAF veteran František Loucký; resistance leader Miroslav Ondrák; and Edith Weitzenová, who joined Britain’s Women’s Auxiliary Air Force after escaping to the country.

Further awards included five Golden Linden decorations, two of them posthumous, and approximately 20 Crosses of Merit. Four honorary badges recognized care for war veterans.

“All those honored represent the values on which our army stands—courage, honor, responsibility and service to the country,” Zůna said.

Hlaváč emphasized that defending Czechia and meeting its commitments to allies required modern equipment, but above all well-trained soldiers.

“No technology on its own decides the outcome of a war. People always decide the outcome,” he said.

A separate commemoration on náměstí Míru drew dozens of visitors. Organized by Prague 2 with the army and veterans’ organizations, it included displays of contemporary and historic military vehicles, weapons and equipment.

Visitors wearing red poppy badges could leave flowers or place a cross carrying a personal message in a symbolic remembrance garden.

Veterans Day marks the armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, which ended fighting on World War I’s Western Front. The red poppy remains its familiar symbol.

People can support remembrance and veterans’ initiatives through the Post Bellum poppy collection or the Defense Ministry’s separate Poppy of the Czech Republic campaign, supporting veterans of wartime service and modern conflicts.