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25 years ago today, the dissident playwright Václav Havel became the first non-communist president of Czechoslovakia since 1948. Back then, Edvard Beneš had resigned from office in the midst of a communist putsch led by Klement Gottwald. 41 years later, the communists would vote to destroy their own monopoly on power.

The name Jolyon Naegele is familiar to many who lived through the final years of communism in Czechoslovakia and other countries in the then Soviet Bloc. At that time Naegele was a roving Eastern European correspondent for the U.S. radio station Voice of America. In a special interview, he discusses his first impressions of Czechoslovakia in 1978, his experiences with the StB, meeting Václav Havel, the Velvet Revolution, and developments since then.

Otakar Van Gemund was questioned by the police – and subsequently detained for two hours – while on his way to demonstrate against President Miloš Zeman in Prague on November 17. The anti-Vladimir Putin protester, who previously disrupted a news conference conducted by the Czech PM, says it was the second time that day the police had stopped him and checked his ID without offering a reason.

The late Czech president, dissident and playwright Václav Havel was honoured by members of the US Congress on Wednesday. A bust of Mr Havel was unveiled at a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol in the presence of Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Havel’s widow, Dagmar. The ceremony concluded a series of events marking the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, which toppled the Communist regime.

Máme holé ruce (Our hands are empty) and Havel na Hrad (Havel to the Castle): those are just two of many slogans to be forever associated with the Velvet Revolution, which began 25 years ago this week in Czechoslovakia, eventually toppling the communist regime. Those slogans also feature on the box of a highly-acclaimed board game based on those turbulent days called 1989: Dawn of Freedom. Created by Chicago-based designer Ted Torgerson the title, aptly enough, saw its Czech release earlier this year.

President Miloš Zeman says demonstrations against him on Monday’s anniversary of the Velvet Revolution were a disgrace to the Czech Republic. Thousands held up red cards indicating he should quit at one meeting while at another eggs were thrown at Mr. Zeman, who was flanked by other presidents from the region. Speaking on Wednesday, Mr. Zeman said the protests were a continuation of last year’s presidential campaign. This would seem to suggest that he blamed Monday’s events on people around Karel Schwarzenberg, whom he defeated in a two-candidate run-off.

Events on Monday marking the 25th anniversary of the start of the Velvet Revolution were overshadowed by large protests against the Czech president, Miloš Zeman. At one event in Prague, eggs were thrown at the head of state in front of several of his peers from the region.

The non-profit organisation Post Bellum, which documents important historical phenomena of the 20th century through eyewitness accounts, handed out its annual Memory of the Nation awards on Monday night. This year’s recipients are German Manfred Matthies, who helped to smuggle people across the Iron Curtain, Czech teacher Dana Vargová, who was involved in anti-regime activities while looking after her disabled son, János Kenedi, a leading figure of the Hungarian underground, Slovak priest Anton Srholc and Polish dissident Kornel Mazowiecki.

Some 20,000 people attended a concert on Wenceslas Square on Monday, organized by Czech Radio, marking the 25th anniversary of the start of the Velvet Revolution. Performers included notable personalities who figured in the 1989 revolution such as Michal Prokop and Jaroslav Hutka. During the evening, many lit candles at the memorial to Jan Palach and at the statue of St. Wenceslas, while some held signs echoing discontent from earlier in the day with the country’s president.

During protests at Prague's Albertov where the Czech president was drowned out by chanting, whistling and jeers, his German counterpart, Joachim Gauck, was struck in the temple by a thrown egg. Security officers had opened umbrellas to block objects, including tomatoes, thrown during the unveiling of a plaque by Mr Zeman commemorating the events of 25 years ago. Mr Gauck as well as the Visegrad presidents including Slovakia's Andrej Kiska, had - by contrast - been applauded by the crowd. Mr Zeman's spokesman said President Gauck had been shaken but would continue with planned events.