With a great sorrow we have received a report on the death of Senator John McCain. 

In his remarkable life, Senator McCain confessed the values ​​of freedom and democracy, he was capable to stand always on the side of truth and to condemn injustice. He never neglected or overlooked the expressions of brutality either in personal life and professional career or in relations between states. He fought fiercely against those who restricted or destroyed freedom, he unequivocally encouraged people's efforts to liberate themselves from the dungeon of dictatorial regimes. 

Senator John McCain was a devoted advocate of the membership of Slovakia and other Central European countries in NATO. It was also due to his support that the United States Congress has approved the accession of the Slovak Republic to the North Atlantic Alliance, thanks to which our country has strong security guarantees today. 

We were honored to meet Senator McCain – at the events organized by our institute or IVO’s partner organizations. In these days we are mourning together with his family and relatives, with all those for whom he served as an example of honesty and sincerity. We will miss Senator McCain. 

Grigorij Mesežnikov, Martin Bútora, Oľga Gyárfášová, Zora Bútorová, Alena Adamková, Marián Velšic, Ján Bartoš. 

The grief over the death of John McCain also express: 

Peter Zajac, Juraj Mesík, Jaroslav Naď,  Karel Hirman, Tomáš Čižik, Ľudmila Verbická, Jana Poláčiková, Rastislav Kužel, Ivan Šimko, Jozef Lenč, Katarína Mathernová, Peter Učeň, Marian Jaslovský,  Rastislav Mojto, Miroslav Wlachovský, Vladimír Pirošík, Miriam Lexmann, Daniel Milo, Boris Strečanský, Miroslav Čaplovič, Ivan Godársky, Fedor Gál, Marcel Zajac, Ján Hacaj, Viktor Nižňanský, Pavol Katreniak, Peter Goliaš, Soňa Szomolányi, Katarína Kováčová, Mário Nicolini, Zuzana Sternová, Juraj Stern, Andrej Matišák, Peter Turčík, Juraj Weiss