Address by Václav Havel at the State Dinner hosted by the President and the First Lady of the United States of America

Mr. President,
Mrs. Clinton,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my turn now to reciprocate the wise words of President Clinton. I still cherish my memories of last year's visit to the United States, when I had the honor meet with the President and Mrs. Clinton during the celebration of the 60th birthday of my dear friend Madeleine Albright. Then, as always, I could see for myself that values like freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law are not mere words to them, but notions deeply ingrained in their hearts.

At the time of that meeting in Georgetown, it was not yet quite clear which nations would be invited to join the North Atlantic Alliance in the first wave of the enlargement process. To my gratification, the NATO Summit in Madrid confirmed that my country, the Czech Republic, was to be one of them. Let me therefore take this opportunity to thank the American nation for its support for NATO enlargement. I am happy to do so in the presence of the Chief Executive and the First Lady of the United States. I am aware that the first wave of enlargement would take a much longer time, had it not been for the hard work of the Clinton Administration. While thanking the United States Government for its lasting support for the Czech Republic's admission to the Alliance, I must add that I am no less grateful for the promotion of the NATO enlargement concept as such, and of the Alliance's transformation into an instrument of collective Euro- Atlantic and European defense.

It would be difficult to name all those who contributed to the Czech Republic's admission to the NATO family. Tomorrow, I shall confer my country's State Decorations on some of those men and women in the Congressional Library. However, there are many more who deserve to be acknowledged - not only individuals, but also entire organizations, such as the NATO Observation Group, The New Atlantic Initiative, the American Jewish Committee, the Czech exile groups in the United States, and many others. Since representatives of a number of those organizations are present in this hall, my personal thanks now go to them as well.

Finally, let me express my gratitude to my dear friend Madeleine Albright, and say a few words about her. As many of you know, Madeleine comes from Prague. She had to leave her original home because her native country was deprived of its freedom. This background became one of the sources of the strong commitment to the cause of freedom which she now demonstrates as Secretary of State of the United States. Her task is not an easy one. We all know that forces hostile to democracy never rest; we witnessed that again recently in Kenya and Tanzania. However, Madeleine has been fulfilling her role with the charm and sense of responsibility that are characteristic of her, and is proving to be one of the greatest diplomats of modern history. With her fine feeling for European affairs, she represents to me - among other things - a guarantee of the much needed U. S. presence on the European continent.

Mr. President,
Mrs. Clinton,
Dear guests,

It has been a great honor for me to address you today with these brief remarks. I see many familiar faces here. Their presence reaffirms to me that the Czech Republic has many friends in the United States. I appreciate the support and tolerance you have shown us so far, and I am happy to have heard many times earlier today that your support for the Czech Republic will continue in the future.

I am looking forward to the October visit of my dear friend Hillary to Prague, where she will be one of the main speakers at the FORUM 2000 Conference - a gathering dedicated to the pressing ethical, ideological and religious questions facing humankind on the verge of the new millennium.

Let our two countries remain good partners and allies. I toast the success of this partnership, and of our future cooperation within the North Atlantic Alliance.

Finally, I toast the good health of the President, of the First Lady and of us all!