A soldier stands guard by a portrait of former Czech President Vaclav Havel set in his memory on December 18, 2011 at the Prague Castle. Tributes poured in from across Europe for late former Czech president Vaclav Havel, hailed as the "soul of the Czech revolution" and an icon for freedom and unity in Europe. Havel, who was the hero of the 1989 Velvet Revolution against communist rule and became his country's first post-independence president, died on December 18, 2011 aged 75. AFP PHOTO / MICHAL CIZEK