Blanar Presents Minister's Gold Medal to Ice-hockey Coach Vujtek in Prague

Prague, 18 November (TASR-correspondent) - Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) presented the Foreign Affairs Minister's Gold Medal to former Czech ice-hockey player and Slovak national ice-hockey team coach Vladimir Vujtek at the residence of the Slovak ambassador to the Czech Republic on Tuesday, TASR has learnt from its Prague correspondent.
        Blanar in this way acknowledged Vujtek's significant contribution to giving Slovakia a good name abroad and developing relations between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. He said that he values ​​Vujtek's human approach most of all.
        "We know several coaches who are tough, and when you see them, there is a serious look in their eyes, but Mr. Vujtek won over the national team players by creating a friendly atmosphere, sharing all feelings with them," said Blanar, adding that Slovak ice-hockey fans remember him to this day.         
        The minister also noted that Vujtek's award also means support for Czech-Slovak relations. "Anything can happen in politics, we can have different opinions, but the relations between the nations, Slovaks and Czechs, are so strong that nothing can disrupt them, and today's meeting attests to this," he added.
        Vujtek said that he was surprised when he learnt that he would receive the award from the Slovak foreign affairs minister. "And I'm still surprised and moved. I didn't expect it, but on the other hand, I'm very happy that I've been acknowledged in this way by Slovakia," he said.
        Vujtek is a former ice-hockey forward, but he became famous mainly as a coach. He prepared the Slovak national team for the World Ice-hockey Championships in 2012-2015 and for the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014. He achieved his greatest success with the Slovak national team at the 2012 World Championship in Finland, at which Slovakia won the silver medal. He was inducted into the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame in 2021.
        During his two-day visit to Prague, Blanar also paid tribute to Slovak politician and statesman Milan Hodza, who was the first Slovak to become prime minister of Czechoslovakia 90 years ago.