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The authorities in Belarus have refused to grant a visa to Czech journalist and former dissident Petruška Šustrová, who planned to attend a memorial event for Václav Havel in Minsk. The Belarusian embassy in Prague has refused to say why it returned her passport with a stamp denying her entry into the country. Ms. Šustrová said she was annoyed by the decision but not surprised. She has visited the repressive state several times in the past, including as an election observer.

President Miloš Zeman’s end-of-year address, which aired on Czech Television and the commercial TV Nova on 26 December, attracted the least viewers of all the presidential New Year’s addresses in the past 6 years. Approximately 1,266,000 people over the age of 15 watched the pre-taped program, almost 700 thousand viewers fewer that last year’s address by Václav Klaus. Television producers said that one of the reasons for the low viewership is that the President’s Office did not announce the change of the date of the address until quite late, and many people did not find out about it in time. Mr. Zeman haddecided to give his address to the nation over Christmas, instead of on New Year’s Day, as his predecessors have done since 1948.

Czechs have marked the second anniversary of the death of the country’s first post-communist president, Václav Havel. President Miloš Zeman laid a wreath at his tomb at Prague’s Vyšehrad cemetery, while Cardinal Dominik Duka was due to celebrate a requiem mass in his memory. Other events were organised around the country, including a concert at the capital’s Archa Theatre celebrating the late statesman’s friendship with US musician Lou Reed, who died this year. A playwright and dissident, Mr. Havel led 1989’s Velvet Revolution and was president for over 12 years.

The Czech Republic is marking the two-year anniversary of the death of former president Václav Havel. Current Czech president Miloš Zeman is due to lay a wreath at his predecessor’s grave, while Cardinal Dominik Duka is serving a requiem mass from St. Anne’s Church in Prague. However, much of the local media commentary about the former president is of a far less emotional nature.

Vilém Prečan was a longtime associate of the late dissident-turned president Václav Havel. In the following interview, he discusses the reasons behind some Czechs' ambivalent attitudes towards celebrating the life of Havel.

US musician Lou Reed, who died in October, is set to be remembered at a special tribute concert at Prague’s Archa Theatre on Wednesday featuring local acts such as the Plastic People of the Universe. Entitled “From the Velvet Underground to the Velvet Revolution”, the event also marks the second anniversary of the death of Czech president Václav Havel, who was a friend of Reed’s.

Councillors in Brno have approved the naming of a narrow street in the city after late president Václav Havel. Václav Havel Alley leads from the theatre Divadlo Husa na provázku, with which the playwright was associated, to the cathedral at the city’s Petrov. The idea was put forward by a senior figure at the theatre; it was first rejected in a public internet poll before being approved in another vote in which people had to cast their ballots in person.

Dublin has become the first city in Europe, and only second in the world, to dedicate a memorial to the late Czech president Václav Havel. The monument entitled Havel’s Place was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Oisín Quinn, and former Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg, on Tuesday. Mayor Quinn told Radio Prague it was an honour for his city to pay homage to the late human rights champion.

As Czechs prepare to mark the second anniversary of the death of ex-president Václav Havel, an exhibition has opened at the Czech Academy of Sciences reflecting an age-old dilemma – how best to portray the nation’s heroes.

Twenty seven sculptors took part in a competition, organized by the Association of Sculptors of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, for the best bust of former president Václav Havel. The panel of judges reviewed 34 entries and will reveal the winner of the competition n Monday. All of the busts will be on display at the Academy of Science building in Prague starting Tuesday.