Prague, June 19, 2000

Dear Mr. President,
Dear members of the Society for Arts and Sciences, Dear Congress Participants,

It is my pleasant duty to greet you all on the occasion of the upcoming 20th anniversary Congress of the Society for Arts and Sciences, taking place in Washington, D.C. on August 9 - 13, 2000.

I have been in touch since the 1960s with the sizable Czech community that resides in the United States, and last time I met with its representatives in Minneapolis in 1999. The veterans among you will know of my good, longstanding relationships with SVU.

I highly appreciate that you persevere with and enhance your rich activities in the field of arts and sciences that you have begun  more than forty years ago, activities that play a tremendously helpful role in the development of the relations between our country and its foreign partners.

I wish you all many successes in your academic and artistic activities, as well as a successful congress.
With friendly greetings,
 
Václav Havel