AWARDING OF THE HONORARY GOLD MEDAL OF FREEDOM OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA TO THE MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION HANS VAN DEN BROEK
Address by the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Milan Kucan

Ljubljana, 3 October 1996


I take great pleasure, therefore, in conferring today the high distinction of the Honorary Gold Medal of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia on Mr Hans van den Broek, a member of the Commission of the European Union and a long-time acquaintance and friend of this country.

It is true that this honour is being conferred with a considerable delay, for this award is founded in the work of the distinguished recipient during that now remote time when the Yugoslav state was in collapse; a time with its own contradictions and peculiar logic in understanding European realities; and a time when the foundations were laid for the independence of newly emerging European states, including the sovereign state of the Republic of Slovenia. This year's fifth anniversary of our independence is therefore a fitting occasion to repay our debt, on a symbolic level, for the efforts and assistance of those people, such as today's recipient, who made a decisive contribution towards establishing the foundations of present-day Slovenia. Now we are perhaps able to repay this debt with greater surety, for we are able with the benefit of hindsight and experience to judge properly whether the decisions of that time, and the support offered with such great personal commitment, were justified.

The Honorary Gold Medal of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia should therefore be understood as an expression of gratitude and recognition from the Republic of Slovenia to Hans van den Broek for his efforts of five years ago. In the conviction that it is indeed possible to prevent war, violence, the defiling of human dignity and violation of human rights, his efforts were guided by a deep understanding of the signs of the times, as well as by a respect for the legitimate rights of all nations, including the Slovenes, to determine for themselves their own fate, as long as they respect the equal rights of other nations. Sadly there were then all too few - and even today there are not many - who were able or prepared to respond to the challenges of that time so consistently, and with such principle and human decency.