PM honours victims of communism with fellow Visegrad Four leaders in Slovakia

After attending commemorations in Prague earlier on Sunday, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš flew to Slovakia to honour the victims of communism. The ceremony took place at the Freedom Gate memorial near the Slovak castle of Děvín by the border with Austria, where many died while trying to cross the tightly guarded border with the West during the Cold War.

Mr. Babiš laid a wreath at the memorial and said that it was important that Czechs and Slovaks were celebrating 30 years since gaining freedom and democracy. Above all, he stressed the importance of free elections, something, that he said was the most important goal of the Civic Forum and its Slovak equivalent, Public against violence, at the time.

His Slovak counterpart Peter Pellegrini said that it is precisely the Freedom Gate memorial which shows the tragic nature of the communist regime.