CZECH REPUBLIC: US SECRETARY OF STATE ALBRIGHT VISIT CONTINUES
(14 Jul 1997) English/Nat US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, on a short visit to Prague, has welcomed the selection of the Czech Republic to join NATO. The comments have been made during a speech to the elite of Czech society at Prague's municipal hall. Earlier, Albright met with Czech president Vaclav Havel whom she urged to modernise the military in order to meet NATO requirements. On Sunday, Albright went on a private tour of the ancient Jewish quarter in the Czech capital where she was shown the names of her paternal grandparents on the walls of a synagogue. Prague was the last stop on a long tour of winners and losers in the race for NATO membership. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ended an emotional return to her homeland on Monday, by saying the Czech Republic's selection to join NATO means it is "coming home in fact to the community of freedom that you never left in spirit." During her speech to the Czech people at Prague's art nouveau municipal house, the Czech elite listened to her speak with pride of her Czech heritage. She also explained extensively the benefits NATO membership would mean for the land of her birth. SOUNDBITE: (English) "This is what we have to remember as the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO. As president Clinton has said we are not just new allies, in the ways that truly matter we are old allies. We are and we have been part of the same community. NATO membership will bring many benefits to the Czech Republic and to others who join today and in the future , as will our broader strategy of integration. Above all it means you will always be able to rely on us and we will always be able to rely on you." SUPER CAPTION: Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State Albright said the alliance expected a "first-class contribution" from Prague. During an earlier news conference at the presidential palace, she said "We think it is very important now that (the Czech Republic) do everything that it must in order to modernise and stream-line its military". But the Secretary of State warned Prague must also reform the economy, Several times during the course of the news conference, the Czech-born Mrs. Albright sharply - some said rudely -corrected her State Department interpreter's translation of her words from English into Czech. The Czech president agreed his country had much to do to get ready for NATO membership, citing the necessity of increasing public confidence and support for the military. Vaclav Havel also said his country must pass a new defense legislation and pursue efforts at making the Czech armed forces compatible with NATO. During her stay Mrs Albright looked drawn and emotionally drained as she stood in front of the Jewish community centre. She was on a personal mission - to rediscover her Jewish roots. She lost three of her grandparents and other relatives in the Holocaust. At the Pinkas synagogue in Prague's old Jewish cemetery, Albright found the names of her paternal grandparents - Arnost and Olga Korbel - inscribed on the wall along with 77,295 other Czech and Slovak Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis. SOUNDBITE: (English) SUPER CAPTION: Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State Albright spent a quarter of an hour in the cemetery where Kraus and Leo Pavlat, director of the Czech Jewish Museum, explained various signs and symbols. Her background became a public issue five months ago when news reports revealed her relatives were Jewish and that many of them - including three grandparents - died in the Holocaust. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
