Rectors to boycott Independence Day celebrations at Prague Castle

The majority of university rectors will not attend the traditional ceremony at Prague Castle marking Czechoslovak Independence Day on October 28th, Czech Radio reported on Friday. An academic boycott of the celebrations has taken place for several years in a row in a show of protest against the policies of President Miloš Zeman and the fact that reactors who have fallen into disfavor with the head of state do not receive an invitation to the event. The Rectors Conference says this is undignified and has accused Mr. Zeman of appropriating the public holiday. The president’s spokesman Jiří Ovčaček warned that rectors who do not turn up for the event this year risk being crossed of the invitation list for good.