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Wreaths have been laid at Prague’s Národní třída on Tuesday at the site of the start of the Velvet Revolution. Among those who marked the anniversary at the historical spot was the Czech prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, who said not all of people’s expectations in 1989 had been met. His view was echoed by the minister of finance, Andrej Babiš, who also told reporters that the state holiday should not be used to divide society; some politicians are taking advantage of the day to create a profile or campaign, he said. Alongside political leaders thousands of regular citizens paid their respects on Národní třída, with many lighting candles to mark the anniversary.

An estimated two to three thousand people took part in a demonstration in front of Prague’s National Museum on Tuesday afternoon entitled For Our Culture and the Security of the Country. Many carried green cards expressing support for President Miloš Zeman, who on November 17 last year was the target of opponents bearing red cards. Among those who spoke at the event, which caused the closing of the main road through Prague, was anti-immigrant politician Tomio Okamura of the Freedom and Direct Democracy party.

Events are being held in the Czech Republic on Tuesday marking the anniversary of the start of the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and the execution and mass arrest of Czech students in 1939. November 17 memorial ceremonies are being held at a number of places, as are cultural events and political demonstrations, including against and in support of migrants. Police will be out in force in Prague on the state holiday, partly as a response to the recent atrocities in Paris.

Since the fall of communism, the Czech Communist party has well established itself on the Czech political scene. It has a stable support base, and since 1990 has not been voted out of the lower house. What is the Communist Party’s appeal for Czech voters? What is its role in the country’s political system? And what are the outlooks for the Czech Communist movement?

People around the country marked the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution amid heightened security on Tuesday. Overshadowed by the terrorist attacks in Paris and the migrant crisis in Europe the anniversary of the country’s return to democracy and European values took on new meaning in light of present day attitudes to migrants.

President Miloš Zeman will mark the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and the 76th anniversary of a Nazi crackdown on Czech universities at Albertov shortly after a demonstration against immigrants is due to start there, the president’s spokesman Jiří Ovčáček told Czech Television on Sunday. Mr. Ovčáček said it was likely that the head of state would address the gathering, similarly as he did last year when faced with a hostile crowd of his critics. Mr. Zeman is known for his tough stance on the migrant issue and has in the past come under fire for making anti-Islamic statements. The migrant issue is expected to dominate the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution with demonstrations both in support of and against migrants planned in Prague and other cities.

The British philosopher Roger Scruton began giving underground seminars at the homes of Czechoslovak dissidents in the late 1970s. He was eventually thrown out of the communist state but the clandestine network he contributed to remained in place until the Velvet Revolution, when several of its “graduates” helped shape the new democracy.

Few people were as close to Václav Havel as his secretary of 14 years, Vladimír Hanzel. Originally a music critic and computer programmer, Hanzel was by Havel’s side in his dissident days before serving under him at Prague Castle during four terms as president. He was also the first person in December 2011 to make public the news of the death of the man who led Czechoslovakia to democracy. When we spoke, I began by asking Vladimír Hanzel about his fateful first encounter with Václav Havel.

The freshly appointed minister of justice, Robert Pelikán, has apologised in writing to three architects who are seeking compensation from the state over a court case they were involved in dragging on for 23 years, iDnes.cz reported. The three were last year cleared in a case brought by a former teacher who demanded an apology for their alleged slander in accusing him of demagoguery and careerism during the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Mr. Pelikán expressed deep regret over the matter and described the length of the legal battle as shocking.

President Miloš Zeman says he is aware of a conspiracy theory that a protest against him on November 17 was organised by Prague’s U.S. Embassy. In an interview in Saturday’s Právo he said it was “a hypothesis that could not be ruled out”, but added that there was at present no evidence to support it. Thousands of people held up red cards against Mr. Zeman at a demonstration on Prague’s Národní St. on the 25th anniversary of the start of the Velvet Revolution. He made light of the protest in Právo, suggesting the demonstrators were holding Opencards in protest at the waste of a billion crowns on the electronic card system used for public transport and other services. Elsewhere in the interview he said Pussy Riot would have been burned to death in the Middle Ages. His use of a crude Czech word to translate the Russian group’s name and other swearing in a live radio interview was widely condemned.