President Zeman acknowledged that plans to award a state medal to George Brady, 88, had been dropped, Finance Minister Andrej Babis was quoted as saying on Saturday. But Zeman denied the change of plan had anything to do with Brady's nephew, Culture Minister Daniel Herman, meeting the Dalai Lama. Now there is news that this has been postponed for this year," Herman told Reuters. Asked if he was given an ultimatum not to meet the Dalai Lama in connection with the award, he said: "Yes." "The president directly told me that if I meet the Dalai Lama, my uncle will be taken out of the list (for awards), and that is what happened," Herman told Czech public television.

Source: Standard Digital October 22, 2016 16:07 UTC