Throughout the weekend, many events marking the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution took place in Slovakia.
On Saturday, November 16, former students of Comenius University's Faculty of Philosophy in Bratislava repeated their 1989 student march across the Bratislava downtown. The turnout stood at 200 people, roughly the same tally as 30 years ago. At the Faculty of Arts building, the attendants laid a wreath at a commemorative plaque dedicated to Danka Košanova, who was shot dead by Soviet soldiers in 1968.
"I'd like once more to thank everyone who decided back then to join the protests, while risking the loss of freedom, academic career or employment. It was this very courage of theirs that played a cardinal role in setting the change into motion," claimed Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová. Nevertheless, Čaputová does not view the transformation process as fully completed at this stage. The transformation must continue so that "no one feels left behind by the changes" or think that dignified life is impossible in Slovakia, she added.
On Sunday, Prime Ministers of the Visegrád Four countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) laid wreaths at the Gate of Freedom Memorial beneath Devín Castle in Bratislava, to honor the memory of victims who perished during their attempt to escape from communist Czechoslovakia. According to Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, the tragic nature of the what the memorial symbolizes lays bare the true face of the regime that ended 30 years ago.
Also on Sunday, approximately 7,000 people gathered at the Square of Freedom in Bratislava at an event marking the anniversary that was organized by the For a Decent Slovakia initiative. During the gathering the crowd called for the defeat of evil, the mafia and corruption.
On Monday, the Speakers of Parliament of the Visegrád four countries scheduled a meeting in Prague, also with the aim of marking the Velvet Revolution.
