Editing Václav Havel (section)

===Reactions===
[[File:Václav Havel 2014 Václavské náměstí.JPG|thumbnail|right|A large tapestry of Václav Havel with the caption ''Havel Forever'' was unveiled on [[Wenceslas Square]] on 17 November 2014, the 25th anniversary of the [[Velvet Revolution]].]]
[[File:VaclavHavelAirport.JPG|thumbnail|right|The international airport in [[Prague]] was renamed to [[Václav Havel Airport Prague]]]]
Within hours Havel's death was met with numerous tributes, including from U.S. President [[Barack Obama]], British Prime Minister [[David Cameron]], German Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] and former Polish President [[Lech Wałęsa]]. Merkel called Havel "a great European", while Wałęsa said he should have been given the [[Nobel Peace Prize]].<ref name=BBC /><ref>{{cite news|title=World Reacts To Václav Havel's Death|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/world_reaction_to_havel_death/24425874.html|access-date=18 December 2011|newspaper=Radio Free Europe}}</ref> The Russian Embassy sent an official condolence on behalf of the President [[Dmitry Medvedev]] and Prime Minister [[Vladimir Putin]].<ref>{{Cite web|first=Jan|last=Richter|title=Russian embassy says condolence on Václav Havel's death was sent to President Klaus|url=http://www.radio.cz/en/section/news/russian-embassy-says-condolence-on-vaclav-havels-death-was-sent-to-president-klaus|access-date=20 December 2011|newspaper=Radio Prague|date=20 December 2011 }}</ref> [[Slovakia]] declared 23 December a day of national mourning.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20042023/slovakia-declares-december-23-as-official-day-of-mourning-for-vaclav-havel.html | title=Slovakia declares December 23 as official day of mourning for Václav Havel|website=[[The Slovak Spectator]]|date=20 December 2011}}</ref>

At the news of his death, former U.S. Secretary of State [[Madeleine Albright]], a native of Czechoslovakia, said, "He was one of the great figures of the 20th Century", while Czech expatriate novelist [[Milan Kundera]] said: "Václav Havel's most important work is his own life."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,804614,00.html|url-status=live|title=A Continent Mourns the Passing of Vaclav Havel|newspaper=[[Der Spiegel]]|access-date=18 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220172408/http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,804614,00.html|archive-date=20 December 2011}}</ref> Leader of [[Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia]], [[Vojtěch Filip]], stated that Havel was a very controversial person and that his words often conflicted with his deeds. He criticized Havel for having supported the [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia]], repeating the charge that Havel had called the event a "humanitarian bombing",<ref>{{Cite news|title=Czech politicians express sorrow over Václav Havel's death|url=http://praguemonitor.com/2011/12/19/czech-politicians-express-sorrow-over-v%C3%A1clav-havels-death|url-status=dead|newspaper=Prague Daily Monitor|date=19 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510062142/http://praguemonitor.com/2011/12/19/czech-politicians-express-sorrow-over-v%C3%A1clav-havels-death|archive-date=10 May 2012}}</ref> although Havel had expressly and emphatically denied ever using such a phrase.<ref>Václav Havel, K Falbrově lži, ''[[Mladá fronta Dnes]]'' 24 May 2004: ''Obskurní pojem "humanitární bombardování" jsem samozřejmě nejen nevymyslel, ale nikdy ani nepoužil a použít nemohl, neboť mám – troufám si tvrdit – vkus.'' {{In lang|cs}}</ref>

An online petition organized by one of the best-known Czech and Slovak film directors, [[Fero Fenič]], calling on the government and the Parliament to rename [[Prague Ruzyně Airport]] to Václav Havel International Airport attracted—in a week after 20 December 2011—support of over 80,000 Czech Republic and foreign signatories.<ref>{{cite news|title=Petition to name the Prague – Ruzyne airport Václav Havel International Airport|url=http://vaclavhavelairport.com/|website=Václav Havel International Airport|access-date=27 December 2011}}</ref> It was announced that the airport would be renamed the Václav Havel Airport Prague on 5 October 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Christian|last=Falvey|title=Government renames airport after Havel, but botches translation|url=http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/government-renames-airport-after-havel-but-botches-translation|website=Radio Prague|date=22 March 2012|access-date=19 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vaclavhavelairport.com/|title=Letiště Václava Havla|website=Václav Havel International Airport|access-date=19 November 2023}}</ref>

Reviewing a new biography by [[Michael Žantovský]], Yale historian Marci Shore summarized his challenges as president: "Havel's message, 'We are all responsible, we are all guilty,' was not popular. He enacted a general amnesty for all but the most serious criminals, apologized on behalf of Czechoslovakia for the post-World War II expulsion of the Sudeten Germans and resisted demands for a more draconian purge of secret police collaborators. These things were not popular either. And as the government undertook privatization and restitution, Havel confronted pyramid schemes, financial corruption and robber baron capitalism. He saw his country fall apart (if bloodlessly), becoming in 1993 the Czech Republic and Slovakia."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Shore|first=Marci|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/28/books/review/havel-a-life-by-michael-zantovsky.html|title='Havel: A Life,' by Michael Zantovsky|newspaper=The New York Times|date=26 December 2014|access-date=17 March 2023|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>