Home / Archive / 2002 Gala Dinner

2002 Gala Dinner

On November 23, FOS sponsored a gala dinner at the Carlton Hotel in Bratislava celebrating Slovakia's invitation to join NATO. In addition to Slovak Pres. Rudolf Schuster, the dinner was attended by Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, Pavol Hrusovsky, Chairman of the Slovak National Council, and most of the Slovak cabinet. Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State, gave the keynote address and attended a breakfast the following day with members of the dinner Steering Committee.

The dinner was a sold-out event, attracting over 350 people, the biggest crowd that the hotel has hosted.

Members of the FOS Board of Directors who attended the event were Slovak Amb. Martin Butora, Jan Surotchak, Bill Tucker, Joe Senko and Peter Rafaeli. Two members of the FOS Board of Advisors were also present: Amb. Branislav Lichardus and Ingrid Kimianova Aielli.

At the dinner, FOS presented its 2002 awards. Politics and Diplomacy awards were presented to President Rudolf Schuster, Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, Martin Butora, Slovak Ambassador to the U.S. and Ronald Weiser, U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia. A Business and Economics Award was presented to John Goodish, President of U.S. Steel Kosice and a Culture and Sports award to Koloman Sokol, a well-known Slovak artist. Accepting on behalf of Mr. Sokol were Sona and Ivan Sarik and Ivan Jancar, relatives of Mr. Sokol living in Slovakia. Victor Oravec designed the awards specifically for FOS to present annually.

President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, NATO Secretary General George Robertson and Phil Kasik, President of the American Friends of the Czech Republic, sent messages to congratulate Slovakia on its invitation to join NATO. During the dinner program, Bill Tucker, FOS Vice Chairman and dinner chairman, read the message from President Bush, and Ambassador Weiser announced delivery of the message from Secretary Powell to Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan.

President Bush mentioned FOS twice in his greeting saying "I commend the Friends of Slovakia for your commitment to advancing friendship and cooperation between the Slovak Republic and the United States and to pursuing peace and prosperity throughout the world."

Madeleine Albright gave a very engaging keynote address in which she stressed the benefits and responsibilities of NATO membership and noted her own personal connection to the Slovak people, having been born in the former Czechoslovakia. She also addressed a Steering Committee breakfast meeting the next morning at which members were presented with the FOS Medal of Honor for their efforts in organizing the successful gala.

Many members of the Slovak press were present at the event and the dinner was covered widely in the Slovak television and print media the following day.

The dinner was a tremendous success for FOS. Plans are underway to host a similar event in April 2003 to celebrate Slovakia's signing the EU Accession Agreement.

Slovak Prime Minister Dzurinda received the FOS Diplomacy / Politics Award for his work on garnering Slovakia's invitation to join NATO

Slovak Ambassador to the U.S. Martin Butora also received the FOS Political / Diplomatic Award for his role in fostering Slovak entry into NATO

John Goodish of U.S. Steel Kosice received the FOS Business / Economic Medal