Cameron and Hague hail ‘Cold War hero’ as Havel dies at 75

The dissident writer, elected to lead the transition after the communist regime was swept away in the peaceful Velvet Revolution of 1989, died yesterday morning after a long illness.

“Cold War hero, playwright and President. He opened the door to democracy in Eastern Europe and will always be remembered,” Mr Hague posted on Twitter.

The death, aged 75, of the man who famously ridiculed the communist state as “Absurdistan” drew emotional responses from across Europe and the globe.

Swedish premier Carl Bildt hailed Mr Havel, who was several times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, as “the greatest European of our age”.

A chain smoker who had long suffered respiratory trouble, the former president’s revolutionary motto was: “Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred.”

Then US President George W Bush, when bestowing America’s highest civilian award on him, said it was for being “one of liberty’s great heroes”.

As well as steering the country into democracy, Mr Havel also oversaw the peaceful split of the country in 1993 into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “I am deeply saddened at the death of Vaclav Havel.

“Havel devoted his life to the cause of human freedom. For years, communism tried to crush him and to extinguish his voice. But Havel, the playwright and the dissident, could not be silenced.

“No one of my generation will ever forget those powerful scenes from Wenceslas Square two decades ago. Havel led the Czech people out of tyranny. And he helped bring freedom and democracy to our entire continent.”