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Celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution

This autumn, the Czech Embassy in Denmark in cooperation with the Slovak Embassy in Denmark arranged three events on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in a form of short presentations with guests from the Czech Republic and Slovakia followed by a discussion with the public. Czech Ambassador Radek Pech and Slovak Ambassador Miroslav Wlachovský talked about the events preceding the fall of the Iron Curtain in the neighboring countries and their own experiences from 1989.

First event took place on 14 November in the International House North Denmark in Aalborg. Here, the invited guest was Filip Vagač, a former student leader and former Slovak Government Commissioner for Civil Society Development, who took part in the organization of the Velvet Revolution 30 years ago. After the discussion, there was an opening of an exhibition of photographs by Dana Kyndrová: 1989 The Velvet Revolution and a musical performance featuring songs played during the revolution in 1989.

Czech Ambassador to Denmark Radek Pech at the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Aalborg

Czech Ambassador to Denmark Radek Pech at the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Aalborg

Celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution

Celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution

The next discussion took place on 10 December at the Aarhus University with Ota Tiefenböck, Czech journalist living in Denmark as a main speaker. The largest group of visitors consisted of the students of the Central European Studies, a program that has been started two years ago with the help of Professor Peter Bugge, renowned bohemist.

Discussion at the Aarhus University

Discussion at the Aarhus University

On 12 December, the series of discussions on the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution ended at the Student House in Odense. The invited guests were Martin Bútora, one of the founders of the Public Against Violence movement, the former Ambassador of Slovakia to the US and former presidential candidate, his wife Zora Bútorová, renowned Slovak sociologist, and  Martina Putíková Schepelern, a Czech journalist and writer living in Denmark, took part in the discussion.

Czech Ambassador Radek Pech in Odense

Czech Ambassador Radek Pech in Odense

Czech journalist and writer Martina Schepelern

Czech journalist and writer Martina Schepelern