Charter 77 was an informal civic initiative in communist Czechoslovakia which criticized “the political and state power" for failing to implement human and civil rights provisions of the Final Act of the 1975 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the document it had been signed by Czechoslovakia.

Attending guests were greeted by the ambassador Gabriela Tománková who expressed her delight in having the opportunity to welcome such a world renowned Czech filmmaker that Olga Sommerová without a doubt is.

Mrs. Iivy Zájedová, an Estonian Interpreter and translator living in the Czech Republic, also a member of the Baltic Union and the founder of the Czech-Estonian club in the Czech Republic introduced the topic of Charter 77 to the audience and also mentioned several other opposition groups that were established in the 1970’s in the Czech Republic. She spoke among other things about the Baltic Union, which was established in former Czechoslovakia as a dissident movement having the fight for freedom as its core objective (similarly to Charter 77). Members of Baltic Union were translators, literary critics, philosophers and supporters of the three occupied Baltic States, who spoke the Baltic languages. Second president of Estonia (1992-2001) Lennart Meri knew of the Baltic Union and attended one of their sessions in Prague. Both Charter 77 and the Baltic Union had indirect influence on the re-establishment of Estonian independence, after the Singing revolution.

In the introduction to her movie, Olga Sommerová mentioned some historic similarities regarding the faith of the Czech Republic and Estonia, both small nations occupied by foreign superpowers. She also stressed the importance of every citizen’s activity within the civic society and warned against general apathy towards public affairs in general.

A discussion with director Olga Sommerová and Estonian politician, historian and member of Estonian Institute of Human Rights Mart Nutt followed after the screening of the documentary “21 spokespersons of Charter 77”.

The official programme was then concluded by a tasting of Czech wine, beer and small refreshments that the Embassy provided for our guests.