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Former Czech president Václav Havel will open the plenary session of the European Parliament on November 11, with a speech on the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism in central and eastern Europe, EP President Jerzy Buzek’s spokeswoman Inga Rosinska told the ctk news agency on Wednesday. In a symbolic gesture MEPs have also invited a group of 89 young people –all born in 1989 – to the plenary session. The event is to be accompanied by an exhibition of photographs documenting the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia.

Václav Havel, who led Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, discussed events at that time and developments since on Thursday, at his only public appearance ahead of the revolution’s 20th anniversary. The former president told reporters from around the world that 20 years ago no one knew when change was going to come, but people did sense that “something was in the air”.

One of the biggest events in Prague after the fall of communism was a now-legendary concert by the Rolling Stones at Strahov Stadium in 1990. They were received afterwards at Prague Castle by President Václav Havel, who became quite friendly with the band. Now 20 years later, the Rolling Stones leader Mick Jagger is coming back to the city – he’s one of a number of famous artists playing at a special concert organised by Mr Havel. Another big event marking the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution will be a recreation of the student demonstration

Former president Václav Havel on Thursday came out very strongly against his successor Václav Klaus for the latter’s obstruction of the Lisbon Treaty ratification process. Speaking at a press conference for the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, Mr Havel called the president’s attitude irresponsible and dangerous, adding that his failure to understand the constitution was damaging to the country and its reputation. Mr Klaus fairly stunned pundits last week by announcing for the first time that his endorsement would depend upon an exemption from a part of the treaty. With the Czech Parliament having passed the treaty earlier this year, President Klaus himself has become the sole obstacle to final ratification of the EU-wide reform treaty, which requires the endorsement of all 27 member states in order to take effect. The treaty is currently the subject of a complaint submitted to the Constitutional Court by a group of the president’s allies; President Klaus maintains that his endorsement is impossible so long as that review is underway.

At the Forum 2000 human rights conference in Prague on Monday, Václav Havel criticized the recently-decorated Nobel peace prize winner Barack Obama for refusing to receive the Dalai Lama until after a state visit to China in November. In his speech, the former Czech president praised the way the world had developed in the 20 years following the fall of the Iron Curtain. He complained, however, that Western society prized economic growth above all else, with human rights being just the ‘cherry on the cake’ in today’s world. Forum 2000, which was co-founded by Mr Havel in 1997, runs until Tuesday.

The former Czech president Václav Havel on Saturday received Germany’s prestigious Quadriga award at a gala ceremony in Berlin held on the 19th anniversary of the reunification of Germany. The award was also bestowed on the former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, as well as musician Marius Mueller-Westernhagen and human rights activist Baerbel Bohley. The annual award is sponsored by Werkstatt Deutschland, a non-profit organization based in Berlin and consists of a small statue resembling the quadriga at the top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and a cash prize of 25,000 Euros.

In related news, Václav Havel has warned against the rise of authoritarian regimes in Eastern Europe. In an interview for the German weekly Die Zeit that will appear on Thursday, Mr Havel also criticized Russia over the killings of independent journalists.

Reflecting on the two decades since the fall of communism, Mr Havel noted that all the fundamental objectives set down in 1989 were reached. However, the changes took much longer and were much more difficult than he expected, the former Czech president added.

Former Czech president Václav Havel received the Golden Hen award in Berlin on Wednesday in recognition of his courage in the revolutionary year of 1989, as well as of his life-time political work. During his four-day visit to the German capital on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Mr Havel will meet with German President Horst Köhler, former German head of state Richard von Weizsacker as well as the former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev.

Former Czech president Václav Havel has taken issue with comments made by Social Democrat leader Jiří Paroubek in the Czech daily Právo. In an opinion piece in the daily on Friday, Mr Paroubek suggested that Havel (along with others such as former prime minister Mirek Topolánek) “longed for a world of Iron Curtains” – a response to Mr Havel’s position on the US radar base cancelled by the Obama administration. Mr Havel responded on Saturday by writing in Právo that Mr Paroubek was lying. He wrote that unlike the Social Democrat leader, he had done all that was in his power to help bring down the Iron Curtain. In roughly two months, the Czechs will mark the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which toppled the Communist system in Czechoslovakia, and lifted the playwright and former dissident Václav Havel to power.

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel on Friday expressed regret over Washington’s decision to abandon the missile defense project in central Europe. He said he had considered it a certain form of protection against Russia’s attempts to regain influence in a region it still considered as its backyard. Several politicians from central and eastern Europe, including Mr. Havel, wrote an open letter to President Obama earlier this year warning him about Russia's growing ambitions and expressing fears that the United States was abandoning the region.