Czech, foreign leaders mourn former Czech president and anti-communist hero Vaclav Havel

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Czech leaders and foreign politicians are paying tribute to Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright who led the 1989 Velvet Revolution that peacefully toppled communism in the former Czechoslovakia.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas called him “the symbol of 1989” and said Havel “did a tremendous job for this country.”

Necas’ deputy, Karolina Peake, called Havel’s death “the end of an era, and end of the person who meant so much for the country.”

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted that Havel was “one of the greatest Europeans of our age.”

Havel died Sunday at age 75 in his weekend house in northern Czech Republic. The Czech government meets Monday to declare a period of official mourning.

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