text: HAVEL PRAISES CZECH NATIVE ALBRIGHT AS FRIEND . Klara Gajduskova PRAGUE 1996-12-06 Czech President Vaclav Havel on Friday welcomed the appointment of Madeleine Albright , who is of Czech extraction , as the United States ' first woman Secretary of State . In a statement Havel , who is recovering from cancer surgery , said : " Madeleine Albright is a distinguished friend , a tested diplomat , and a true American of fine origins . " " I look forward to continuing our good relations ... with the United States and with the first woman ever to hold the position of Secretary of State . I wish her well , " Havel said in a statement to Reuters . Havel , who helped lead the " velvet revolution " that ousted the Communist regime in Prague in 1989 , invited Albright , then working for a private foreign policy think tank , to advise his new democratic government in 1990 . Havel had a small malignant tumour removed from his lung on Monday and is recovering in hospital . Albright , born Marie Korbelova to a Czechoslovak diplomat in 1937 , fled with her family to the United States after the Communists came to power in a coup in 1948 . As an academic , Albright studied and lectured on Europe 's 20th century problems before becoming U.S. ambassador to the United Nations . Czech diplomats , seeking to have their country included in the expected expansion of NATO , praised the selection of Albright , known to be a strong supporter of alliance 's integration of former Soveit-bloc countries . " The nomination ... is a clear signal that one key of the lines of foreign policy will be the strengthening of the trans-Atlantic cooperation , a creation of strategic partnership between Europe and the US , " Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec told Reuters . " ( Albright ) is a convinced advocate of NATO enlargement and of stabilisation of security structures . " Czech ambassador to the United Nations , Karel Kovanda , told the daily Mlada Fronta Dnes that Albright " is a little light in our diplomatic heaven , " but warned against expecting her to exert any influence in favour of the Czechs .