05:30 PM - 07:00 PM
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) presented its Democracy Service Medal to John Brademas, Fred Iklé, Richard Lugar and Stephen Solarz in recognition of their nine years of service on the NED Board of Directors, and for their outstanding contributions to the cause of democracy. The presentation took place at a reception held in the Mansfield Room of the U.S. Capitol.
05:00 PM - 07:00 PM
The Endowment presented its 2000 Democracy Award to Veton Surroi, the editor and publisher of Koha Ditore, the most widely read Albanian language daily in Kosovo, and Natasa Kandic, head of the Belgrade-based human rights organization, the Humanitarian Law Center, which has been documenting human rights violations in Yugoslavia since 1992.
05:00 PM - 07:30 PM
Czech and Slovak representatives joined members of Congress, friends of NED, and representatives of the international community on Capitol Hill October 20 to celebrate and reflect on the 10th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that ended communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Czech Ambassador to the United States Alexandr Vondra and Slovak Ambassador to the United States Martin Bútora were awarded NED's Democracy Service Medal for their critical roles in the successful revolution, and in the subsequent transition to democracy.
