Paneláky are an irony of history

Many older Slovaks are nostalgic of the job security and the flats they got “from the state for free” before 1989.

(Source: Peter Chrenka)

About 59 percent of Slovaks think that the change of regime that happened in November 1989 in former Czechoslovakia, now known as the Velvet Revolution, was worth it, while as many as 73 percent of Czechs share a similar opinion. This is according to a survey carried out by the Sociological Institute of the Slovak and Czech Academies of Sciences and the Bratislava-based non-governmental think tank Institute for Public Affairs.

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Experience makes people critical

Among the changes that the fall of the regime brought to their life, Slovaks mostly appreciate the possibility to study and travel abroad, followed by free access to information and the opportunity to become actively involved in public affairs.

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