Behind the scenes of the gala evening at the Municipal House: Babiš hugged Pellegrini. And a toast with the Turk

Politics and music met at the Municipal House on Tuesday. President Petr Pavel (64) and his Slovak counterpart Peter Pellegrini (50) watched a gala concert by the Slovak Philharmonic together, while the evening passed in grand style - Andrej Babiš (71, ANO) was smiling, Motoriste debated with Václav Klaus (84) and champagne flowed freely.

Pellegrini flew into Prague on Tuesday evening and headed straight from the airport to the Municipal House. There, he was warmly welcomed on the red carpet by President Pavel at the threshold of the building . Together, they disappeared into one of the lounges, where they spoke privately.

Officially, it was a short bilateral meeting, unofficially, but also a friendly gathering before the social evening. The two statesmen then moved to the main hall, where they appeared in front of the seated orchestra and the audience to great applause from the guests.  First, the Slovak Ambassador Martin Muranský gave a speech , which was the patron of the entire evening.

He was followed by the presidents, who spoke, among other things, about the history of Czechoslovakia, the unity of the countries, and the "founding fathers" Štefánik and Masaryk, whose birthdays the gala evening celebrated. The heads of state then moved together to the balcony, from where they listened to the orchestra.

Warm hugs

The audience responded to the performances of the Czech and Slovak composers with appreciation. However, the main attention was drawn by the familiar faces. After the concert, Pellegrini moved to the VIP lounge, where he was immediately surrounded by a group of Slovak and Czech supporters.

Many took photos with him, some even applauded him. He was later joined by ANO leader Babiš , with whom the Slovak president is close - both greeted each other with warm hugs and laughter.

Their conversation was then joined by leading representatives of the Motorists – chairman Petr Macinka (47) and honorary president Filip Turek (40). Babiš introduced them and described them as "his partners".

Motorists in the spotlight

The Motorists were prominent throughout the evening. Macinka brought his wife Monika, and Turek arrived with the newly-minted Motorists MP Gabriela Sedláčková (40) – his former spokeswoman, who, among other things, deleted his posts on social media.

Politics and personal relationships were mixed in the hall. Outgoing Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (40, ODS) was the only member of the outgoing government to come – he greeted Pellegrini and Ambassador Muranský warmly. However, it was evident that he was in an environment where he did not have the greatest support.

Václav and Livia Klaus (81), traditional participants of such events, stayed for cocktails for only a moment. After the concert, they chatted with a few acquaintances and quietly left without catching up with President Pellegrini. Among the guests was also "busting" the Motorists' foreign policy expert and long-time MEP Jan Zahradil (62).

A host of guests

The hall was filled with up to 900 guests. In addition to Babiš, other leading representatives of the ANO movement, such as Alena Schillerová (61) and Radek Vondráček (51) , arrived , who certainly left nothing to chance and were not absent from any of the social moments.

Among the guests of the evening was also the chairman of the Czech Freedom Fighters Union, Jaroslav Vodička (77). However, there was no representative of the SPD movement, which recently signed a coalition agreement with ANO and Motoristy, at the Municipal House.

Until the evening

Around ten o'clock in the evening , the event began to slowly dissolve. Guests were leaving, the last wine was being served, and the waiters were taking away empty plates.

Pellegrini said goodbye to Muranský with a smile, Babiš still managed to negotiate with the Slovak president, while President Pavel had already left the event. After ten o'clock, the lights in the hall began to dim and the waiters began to collect empty glasses.

Ambassador Muranský said goodbye to the last guests with a satisfied diplomatic smile.

Zdroj: Blesk