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Notes for the Independence Day Speech 2004

English Pages, 2. 7. 2004

Mr. Ambassador, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear American friends,

I feel honoured to be asked by the Ambassador of the United States, this time by Ambassador Cabaniss, to say a few words here on this very special occasion as a representative of the Czech Republic.

Mr. Ambassador, all of us are pleased and honoured to be invited to be here today and to have the opportunity to celebrate the 228th Independence Day of the United States of America together with you. I can assure you that for the last years the 4th of July has been a firm and fixed point in our annual calendar of events. I am sure you know it was not always the case in this country. In the past we were forced to remember other events.

Today we celebrate – and I am not sure whether to say already or only – the 15th Independence Day in a free Czech Republic. I repeat again and again that we know who helped us to get rid of the oppressive communist regime.

Mr. Ambassador, three weeks ago I visited your country. I was privileged to participate in the funeral of your great President, Ronald Reagan, whose role in ending communism not only in this country, but worldwide, was enormous. Some of us were aware of that already during his presidency, the rest – I believe – was able to understand it during the last 15 years.

The communism is over but our concern about freedom and our fight for freedom – here and elsewhere – is and should be never-ending. Communism is, however, not the only problem. We see the appearance of new “isms” and of new dangerous attempts to suppress freedom. The tragedy of September 11 showed us that we are not at the end of history, that we do not live in the world of all-embracing tolerance, with no dictatorships, with no wars and with no human suffering. Three days ago I returned from the NATO summit in Istanbul and would like to stress how impressed I was by the very high degree of mutual understanding of the dangers undermining our freedom, our democracy, our political and economic stability, among political leaders of NATO countries.

Mr. Ambassador, as you know, two month ago we became members of the European Union. We did it because we wanted to participate in the – in principle positive – European integration process. Its current form is, however, a problem and an important challenge for us. I would like to assure you that the Czech Republic will not forget the importance of the transatlantic cooperation and will not let anyone to weaken our friendship with your great country. I would also like to assure you that I believe that we will overcome the present political crisis, connected with the resignation of the government, and especially that our foreign policy will not be effected by the change of government.

I wish American people a lot of success, prosperity and peace. Thank you for inviting us to share this special day with you.

Václav Klaus, U. S. Embassy, Prague, July 2, 2004