Related articles

Emotions are running high following Tuesday’ anti-Islamic demonstration at Prague’s Albertov, held on the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Academics from Charles University have strongly criticized the fact that students were denied access to the historic site because of a political gathering.

Students who were not allowed to continue on to Albertov in Prague on November 17, to mark historic events (the execution and mass arrest of Czech students by the Nazis in 1939 and the start of the Velvet Revolution in 1989) say they will mark the anniversary ‘properly’ on November 28. Some 4,000 people, aiming to participate, have already signed up on facebook. On Tuesday, students aiming to mark the November 17th anniversary were turned away by security ahead of a speech by President Miloš Zeman where he appeared on stage several hours later with members of the Bloc Against Islam, for which he has come under criticism.

Police arrested around 20 people in Prague on Tuesday in connection with a number of demonstrations held on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution which led to the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989. Individuals were detained largely for disorderly conduct or accosting an officer of the law. According to a police spokesman, officers found knives and other weapons among some who attended a demonstration organized by the initiative Bloc Against Islam. Tuesday saw numerous demonstrations in the Czech capital - some in support of the president, and some critical of the government or the head-of-state.

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.