AN honorary consulate of the Czech Republic has been officially opened in Musselburgh.

The Czech Republic’s last Honorary Consul, Dr Paul Millar, retired recently after 20-plus years of service to the Czech community in Scotland, and his honorary consulate in Edinburgh closed its doors. A new Honorary Consul, Veronika MacLeod, has been appointed and she will be based on Eskside West.

The tape was cut yesterday (Wednesday) by Czech deputy foreign minister Martin Smolek and the town’s MSP Colin Beattie (see image on Page 2).

Also in attendance were the Czech Consul General from Manchester, Ivo Losman, and the Consul from London, Pavel Duchon.

Veronika has already made a positive impact on the Czech ex-pat community by opening and running schools for Czech/Scottish children in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee, with the help of her co-director Radka Petersen, who will also be her consular backup.