The Address by the President of the Republic Vaclav Havel on the occasion of the Czech National Day

Ladies and Gentlemen,

One of the natural qualities of a modern politician should be, in my view, the art of always being able to understand various political tasks or themes as part of their broader context, of showing respect for this context and of even accepting any responsibility arising from such respect.

When, eighty years ago, the struggle for our independence was coming to its climax, the main protagonist of this struggle was proving more than enough that he possessed such a quality. T. G. Masaryk was perhaps unable to see the fate of his nation in any other way than in a pan-European and world-wide context. It was he who at that time managed to identify those broader circumstances perhaps best or most comprehensively of all.

He understood his own work in exile as well as that of Benes and Stefanik, the resistance movement at home as well as the remarkable liberation work of our foreign legions not as a kind of "isolated issue" or merely the matter of Czechs and Slovaks wanting their own state, but as a natural and integral part of what he called "the world revolution". By this he meant the fight between democracy and theocracy, the fight of the ideals of civic freedom, human equality, parliamentary democracy and self-determination of nations against the forces of the past embodied by the Austrian and German empires.

Almost anyone is able to perceive things in their broader context. However, it is not enough for a genuine politician to merely perceive things: he should be able to transform at least some of what he observes into political reality. Masaryk managed to do this to the full: both President Wilson and many others right down to the representatives of - as they were called at that time - enslaved nations gradually began to see the situation in the same or in a similar way as him and even act in that spirit.

Masaryk - as a real modern politician - saw things in a broader context not only in a sense of space: his horizon was not the borders of the Czech lands and Slovakia, which is why he was the main opponent of Czech parochialism. He also saw things in a broader context in a sense of time: he did not merely think about what is now and what will be tomorrow, but at least to the same degree about what might happen in future decades. This was the source of his constant preoccupation with anchoring his country to international political and security systems, as well as of his tireless efforts to look for partners for what today would be called "a system of collective security".

Fate did not grant us the fifty years of peace and quiet, which in Masaryk's opinion was the time needed to consolidate democracy in Czechoslovakia and to guarantee its security. It was not possible in the given circumstances. Europe was hit by the plague of various forms of Fascism and later by Nazism, which the European democracies failed to stand up to in time and which developed into the unprecedented horrors of the Second World War. This bitter era culminated in decades of Communism and a divided Europe.

I think it is worth reminding ourselves of all this today mainly because it is during this period that the strange deviation from the path of history seems to be righting itself and we can hope that what Masaryk and his fellow fighters dreamed about will finally happen. Today, our hope is greater than at any time in the past eighty years because, among other reasons, Europe's collective hope for a just internal order is much greater today than at any time in the past.

Yes, it seems that it is only now that fate can smile on our independent state - since it is only now that we have a real chance of becoming a fully-fledged member of the integrating democratic Europe, that is all its current political, economic and security organisations! In other words: it is only now that a truly serious and long-term decision is being made as to whether we will be firmly-rooted in a peaceful and secure Europe and whether this will secure a good life for future generations as well, or whether, through our own fault - that is because of our parochialism and short-sightedness, we will find ourselves outside the current political changes in Europe that are both brand new from a historical perspective and so important for the whole world!

I am deeply convinced that our long-held hopes will be fulfilled!

Naturally, a lot needs to be done to achieve this and this work can only be successful if the certainty will prevail within us that our efforts are meaningful, that they are not just for this moment and our immediate comfort, and that it is not at all a matter of foreign rules being forced upon us but of being part of a community of values, that means not having the humiliation of being a parasite but taking a proud role in joint responsibility.

Esteemed Members of Parliament,
Esteemed Fellow Citizens,

One of the things that Masaryk said was that countries are only kept together by the ideals upon which they were founded. Let us follow the path of those who were putting these ideals into practice before us and those who are doing so now!

These include those men and women who - albeit each of them in a different way - are to receive Czech state honours from me today.

Allow me to congratulate them on behalf of us all.