"As you know, I was a member of the Communist party," Babis said in a speech later the National Museum. "I am not proud of that."

"And thanks to those of you who express their opinion and care about what country we live in. Although we can differ in our opinions - and we do differ - that is what political opinions are for."

The events on Sunday offered Czechs more of a party, with the unseasonably warm weather bringing out families and offering others a chance to sip beers outside while listening to the concerts and speeches.

A reenactment of the student march wound its way through the city and allowed people to hear from dissidents who participated in the protests that ended communist rule peacefully in Czechoslovakia weeks after the Berlin Wall fell and brought dissident poet Vaclav Havel to office.