Czech Republic holds ceremony marking end of World War II

Czech top politicians headed by President Milos Zeman, soldiers and war veterans attended on Sunday a ceremony that marked the 71st anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe at the National Memorial on Vitkov Hill in Prague.

A military parade was held and wreaths were laid during the ceremony, which also featured a flight of two military Gripen firefighters and a Challenger CL 601.

In a statement, Czech Prime Minister Sobotka warned of the danger posed by a political ideology based on thinking in the categories "we and they."

A blanket denouncing and spreading of prejudices based on sex, religion, political opinion, sexual orientation or origin always eventually results in "evil and violence," he said.

Sobotka stressed the need for an active civil defence of democratic values regardless of whether they are lefist or rightist Democrats.

The rise of the Nazi totalitarian regime was enabled not only by the indifference to the persecution of "the others," but also by the inability of democrats to jointly stand up to the Nazis, said Sobotka.

Commemorative events marking the war's end were held at several places in Prague and other Czech cities. During the World War II, Czechs fought against the Nazis in the war on the Western and Eastern Fronts. Endit