Almost 100 events will mark 25th anniversary of Velvet Revolution

Almost one hundred events will mark the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution which saw communism begin to fall in Czechoslovakia on November 17th, 1989. Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek, at a press conference on Monday, stressed that the anniversary was of major importance not least because of the non-violent nature of events in the Velvet Revolution - a peaceful transition which he said was rare today and had won the country respect. One of the most anticipated events around the time of the 25th anniversary will be the unveiling of a bust of late former president Václav Havel in Washington. Mr Havel went from being a dissident to becoming Czechoslovakia’s first democratically-elected president after 1989. A conference will be held in Washington to discuss Mr Havel’s legacy; it will be attended, among others, by the former US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright.

Author: Jan Velinger