Slovakia Today, English Language Current Affairs Programme from Slovak Radio

Every year on 25 March, Slovakia commemorates the Day of the Struggle for Human Rights, marking the anniversary of the 1988 Candle Demonstration in Bratislava. The peaceful protest, organised primarily by Catholic activists, called for religious freedom and respect for civil rights under the communist regime. Although the gathering lasted only a short time before it was violently dispersed by the police, it became one of the most important civic protests in late socialist Czechoslovakia and a symbolic precursor to the democratic changes of 1989. Today, the anniversary raises a broader question: What does the struggle for human rights mean in Slovakia today? Historian and professor at the Comenius University in Bratislava, Ondrej Podolec will talk about the historical meaning of Candle Manifestation alongside with František Mikloško, who was one of the organizers. About the current meaning of the term human rights you are going to hear from the executive director of the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights, Silvia Porubänová.