Slovaks have changed since November 89

Around a third of Slovak citizens say that they took part in street protests against the former Communist regime in 1989, according to a recent MVK agency poll, published in Sme daily. Since the fall of Communism, however, these same people have become passive, and are unlikely to take to the streets again. On Tuesday, students gathered in eight Slovak towns and cities to commemerate the Velvet Revolution, which took place in November 1989. However, there were very few students actually present. The turn-out was better at recent anti-fascist demonstrations, but sociologist Pavel Haulik thinks that Slovaks are unwilling to take to the streets to protest.