Following the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989, after decades of ignorant communist regime and strong information barriers, the Roma problems started to be dealt with again. In April 1991, the Government of the Slovak Republic accepted a demand for equalisation of Gypsies with the other ethnic minorities in Slovakia. The Declaration of Basic Human Rights and Freedoms accepted by the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia in January 1991 secured the Roma's right to freely decide their own ethnic affiliation. Individual ministries were developing initiatives for the Romany minority, securing their rights in the fields of culture and education.