His Holiness the Dalai Lama this morning had a breakfast meeting with Mr. Karel Schwarzenberg, Czech Foreign Minister at the Foreign Ministry.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama said, “I appreciate the Czech people, Government, President Havel, Parliament and Forum2000 for your support and always showing genuine concern and sympathy.”

“This moment in history, we are passing through difficult moment. Tibetan Nation is passing through death sentence. Tibetan culture is being eliminated. The Chinese Government sees Tibetan culture as a threat”, His Holiness said.

Welcoming His Holiness, Schwarzenberg said, “It is the greatest honour for us to have your Holiness with us, and we also need a bit of spiritual enlightenment”.
The meeting between the two leaders lasted for about an hour.

After the meeting, His Holiness left with the Czech Foreign Minister aboard Czech Government’s military plane for Brussels where the Tibetan leader will address the European Parliament.

With inputs from Office of Tibet, Geneva