Czech Government marks 25th anniversary of 1989 Velvet Revolution

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has invited his ministers to a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the events of 17 November 1989. The commemorative evening at the Lichtenstein Palace will be held on 15 November and will be attended by the highest constitutional officials, representatives of the diplomatic corps, senators and MPs.

In addition to a commemorative meeting and ceremony on Prague’s Národní třída, the site of the events 25 years ago, the PM will mark the anniversary through other activities. One of the most important will be his working visit to the United States of America, where he will attend the unveiling of a bust of former President Václav Havel, who gave an essential speech to the US Congress 25 years ago on the ongoing developments of the political situation in what was then Czechoslovakia.    

Sobotka will also attend a discussion with college students on 15 November at the invitation of the Law Faculty of Charles University in Prague and the Všehrd Association of Czech Lawyers. The topic of the debate will be the ongoing legacy of November 1989 and how it extends to the present.  

Significant actors involved in those events will join the discussion, such as Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier, who was a student activist in 1989; Martin Klíma, who was the spokesperson for the students in 1989; former Czech MP Petr Kučera, who was a leading representative of Civic Forum; former Prime Minister Petr Pithart, who was a leading dissident; and Lída Rakušanová, a journalist who was once an editor at Radio Free Europe.