Havel - a dissident and playwright who was the hero of the 1989 Velvet Revolution against communist rule and became his country's first post-independence president - died Sunday aged 75.

"He was a great theoretician of our times and his voice will be greatly missed in Europe, especially now when it's in great crisis," said Walesa, who like Havel, went from anti-communist dissident to become head of state after the 1989 peaceful collapse of communism.

"He was a great spokesman in the struggle for freedom, for democracy and for freedom from the yolk of commumism. It is sad he is no longer with us, I will pray for his soul," said Walesa, a fervent Roman Catholic.

Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski reminded that Havel “supported the Polish democratic and independence aspirations and cooperated with the Workers’ Defence Committee KOR and Solidarity. He also co-founded the Polish-Czech-Slovak Solidarity. He continued his good cooperation with Poland also within the Visegrad Group after 1989 as President of Czechoslovakia and then of the Czech Republic.

Ever since the 1960s until his last days, Vaclav Havel’s voice was important for his country, for Poland, for Europe and for the world. His memory will always live on in Poland.

To honour the memory of Vaclav Havel, all the EU Council meetings under the Polish Presidency on Monday, 19 December, will commence with a minute of silence,” Foreign Minister wrote in a farewell statement.

Former President, Aleksander Kwasniewski said that Havel’s personality is best described by the title of his essay “The Power of the Powerless”.

Kwasniewski recalls that he and Havel were invited to Washington for the 60^th anniversary of Bill Clinton. Only later did they learned that their meeting then was filmed by Martin Scorsese. When ask what they do as former presidents they would quip: “We star in Scorsese’s film”.

Kwasniewski also remembers Havel as a very modest person, a careful listener who, in all his helplessness, was extremely strong.

JErzy Ilg from Krakow’s Znak publishing house said that Poland never had had such statesman – an artist, intellectual and a man of great moral character. He also added that politics never had been at the centre of interest of Havel but he engaged in political because of sense of responsibility.

BS/AFP/Radio ZET