On the 91st anniversary of the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state President Vaclav Klaus presented state decorations to 23 individuals. Among them was singer Karel Gott, who received a Medal for Merit, 1st degree.
Some media analysts have questioned giving an award to Gott’s due to his past closeness with the communist regime.
Viliam Buchert wrote in daily Mla-dá fronta Dnes (MfD) that it is fitting to award Gott for his great achievements as a Czech musician. Buchert says that Gott’s siding with the Bolshevik regime for the sake of his career is something that can never be accepted even if it can be understood but maintains that his status as an exceptional singer is solid backing for the award, and that Gott’s actual history is riddled with paradoxes. “His life story perfectly mirrors the life of people in then-Czechoslovakia, with their series of successes combined with losses and narrow-mindedness,” Buchert wrote.
