Czech President Pavel also paid tribute to Dana Drábová at Forum Karlín today

President Petr Pavel also paid tribute this evening at Prague’s Forum Karlín to Dana Drábová, the longtime chair of the State Office for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB), who died after a serious illness on 6 October. Drábová, he said, was someone who knew where she stood on matters of principle and was never afraid to stand up for them. The memorial event, titled “Dana, thank you!”, was held in honour of the respected nuclear energy expert and prominent public figure by the organisations Dárek pro Putina, Post Bellum and Havloids Memorial Club.

“Many of you may have known Dana Drábová longer and better than I did. So I’ll allow myself just a few personal memories. When my wife and I met her, for example, at the local feast in Pyšely, she was a very kind and warm auntie who greeted everyone, and everyone was always glad to see her. When I was with her at a conference on peace in Ukraine in Switzerland and we sat together on a panel on nuclear safety, I was proud of the respect shown to her by colleagues and experts from Japan, France and many other countries,” the president told the packed hall.

“When I followed her comments on various situations in life, and more recently especially on the war in Ukraine as well as some domestic issues, I appreciated how concise she always was, yet how absolutely on point. And even when she used a strong word, it was always exactly right, and she never stopped being a lady,” Pavel added.

Asked what he would encourage people to be brave about, the president said that the people of Czechia knew how to stand up for what they believed in and what they wanted. “We can say what bothers us, and we can put pressure on those who are supposed to represent us to make sure they act in our interests. I think there will be times when people need to say clearly what they like and don’t like, and how they want politicians to represent them,” Pavel added.

Others paying tribute to Drábová this evening included Senate President Miloš Vystrčil (ODS), former government coordinator for strategic communication Otakar Foltýn, and kayaker Vavřinec Hradílek. Hosts Světlana Witowská and Jindřich Šídlo also read a letter from Drábová’s family. Speeches and videos from earlier interviews with Drábová were accompanied by a series of musical performances. Aneta Langerová sang for Drábová’s admirers, while the bands Vypsaná fixa and Kašpárek v rohlíku also performed. Singer Dagmar Pecková opened the evening with the Czech national anthem.

Drábová was active in local politics and supported Ukraine after Russia invaded in February 2022. She had led the State Office for Nuclear Safety for more than a quarter of a century, since 1999. No other state official in the post-1989 history of Czechia has held such a senior position for so long. In November 2023, the government appointed her to another five-year term.

The Dárek pro Putina initiative named a Flamingo cruise missile after Drábová and launched a fundraiser for it on Tuesday. By this afternoon, the required 12.5 million crowns had been raised on the initiative’s website. Drábová was involved in the Dárek pro Putina project.