Velvet Revolution reunion for two Reuters men

A happy reunion took place earlier this month when Colin McIntyre, former chief correspondent for Austria and East Europe, was invited by the Czech Embassy to a bar in London for beer and songs to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that overthrew Communism.

The invitation came from Ambassador Michael Žantovsky, who as Reuters’ local Prague correspondent in 1989 covered the revolution with McIntyre, racing from East Germany after helping report the fall of the Berlin Wall. Žantovsky left Reuters a few months later to become spokesman for new president Vaclav Havel. He also served as ambassador to the United States and Israel, and as a politician.

McIntyre retired in 2001, and continues to work as a trainer for the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

PHOTO: Michael Žantovsky (L) with Colin McIntyre. ■