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THE QUESTION OF VISION IS A QUESTION OF SPIRIT
The Day of Statehood 1995
Speech by the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Milan Kucan
Ljubljana, Cankarjev dom, 25 June 1995
"We must prepare ourselves for involvement in the process of European integration. We must nurture our European character and at the same time assert our national characteristics. We need an awareness of the fact that we will be good Slovenes, if at the same time we are good Slovene Europeans, and of course, we will be good Europeans if we are good European Slovenes. The attempt to create a new political order and cooperation in Europe on a just basis and on equality of all has no precedent on this continent. This is a great opportunity for Europe and for the whole world. Here the Slovenes cannot stand on the side-lines, and miss the opportunity for us, too, to bring to this association our spiritual and cultural diversity and moral values, where Europe has no future simply as a pragmatic community. These are also the principles on which we will arrange our relations with our neighbours, find strategic partners and determine the price of our involvement in the world...." President Kucan pointed out at gala academy on the day of statehood.
Tonight we celebrate here in Cankarjev Dom, with full state ceremony, our Day of Statehood. This is the birthday of the first Slovene state. Its fourth birthday. The importance of this day for the Slovene nation and people both at home and around the world cannot be defined by words, by the glitter of fireworks and by outward appearances. Its value is as much as we are able to open our hearts to it, and as much as we are prepared to devote our thoughts to it. It is as much as we equate our belief in the future with it. This day of celebration lies deep in the consciousness of this country's citizens. It belongs to them. It cannot be bought, nor can it be alienated. It marks that heroic time in our recent past, when the modern history of the Slovenes was decided by the actions of one single champion - the Slovene people, the women and men of Slovenia. Through their will, courage and pride they represented an unbreakable line of defence for their homeland. In grateful respect for the memory of those who during that time of great acts in the war of 1991 gave their lives to fulfil the dreams of many generations of Slovenes, we pause tonight for a moment of silence.
We have awaited the fourth anniversary of Slovene statehood with self-confidence. We have achieved much. We have confirmed our belief in the fact that the future also belongs to the Slovenes. We have strengthened our trust in the values of European civilisation and its democratic tradition, which in essence define Slovenia as a modern European country, and we have also strengthened our certainty and fundamental need to seek within these values the incentives, reasons, orientations and sense of our own journey through life.
With the declaration of independence, Slovenia set itself very high standards to live up to. At that time it was said that as a co-creator of Europe's history and spiritual tradition we were confirming our belonging and loyalty to what is noblest in this tradition. In confirmation of this loyalty we placed our moral signature in advance on all the conventions which require respect for this tradition. We said that we would reject any violence or intolerance in relations between peoples, nations and states; including between nations with which we once lived in a common state. And in responsibility for the existence of the Slovene nation and Slovenia's democratic future, unencumbered and under no-one else's care and control, but with full responsibility and as an equal among equals, we said that we wished to be included in the formation of the new relations in Europe. It was stressed that freedom and dignity of the individual were inseparable and indivisible from the sovereignty of a nation. Whoever tramples on one, sacrifices the other.
Now, after four years of trials and great efforts, which are needed to build a new state, to set up political, economic and social reforms and to introduce the state into international life, we can say and indeed we must stress that Slovenia is observing the standards set four years ago. Today around the world Slovenia is a recognised and respected country, which has had, has now and we may believe will continue to have good friends. It has justified its existence and the decision of its citizens in favour of an independent state. Slovenia's time has come. Whoever now seeks and designs his own future must rely on his experiences and on what he has achieved.
Precisely out of loyalty to those values to which Slovenia bound itself on its very birth, and in order for us always to be able to weigh up and respond to the eternal question of what in fact we are, what we want and what we are prepared to do for it, we may see very clearly today some entirely specific questions which deserve our special attention.
At the forefront we see moral questions, questions of values which give sense to everything we do with our country and in our country. We have provided safeguards for our existence, and we have all the institutional, legal and other instruments with which we might tackle any of the problems which complicate our lives on a pragmatic level. But through these complications we must render more recognisable the moral substance and values which serve to guide and measure all our life and being. For while we might invest great energy, and have the feeling that our great work is done, it can also happen that the results we expected are not there, that we have not created a nation with an internally bonded society, that we are living as a collection of individuals, one beside and apart from the other, if not actually one against the other.
For this reason we are ever again reminded that the fundamental value to which our society clings, and which guides our common hopes and beliefs, is respect of the unique, once-only nature of the human being, his life, dignity, freedoms and rights. All the substance of the democratic parliamentary political order, of a society based on law and social welfare, of a free market economy, social justice and civil solidarity, which European civilisation has nurtured and which is now becoming established in our society, stems from and serves this fundamental value. All the good which we may today enjoy, is the fruit of this renewal. All the bad which makes us dissatisfied has its roots primarily in our common lack of will and ability to respect and observe this value, and to protect it in our legal order, in the actions of our state and in our own behaviour.
What must we do for this value to be expressed by our entire lives more strongly than before, for it to be respected by the whole state apparatus and for it to become the source and sense of the endeavours towards the existence and future of the Slovene nation and its state? More than anything we should consistently and without reservation submit ourselves to the rule of law. There is no doubt that in Slovenia over the last four years, space for freedom has expanded. But freer than a citizen, and more than freedom in the whole of society, it is more important that man with his freedom does not threaten the freedom of others and that coexistence between people is ordered by firm and generally respected rules. To live freely, to profess one's convictions, to exercise one's initiative or interest, to work and do business is only possible with the conviction that the greatest authority in the land is the law, equally binding on all. Everything else leads to abuse, arbitrariness, manipulation and authoritarianism. No-one may be granted the right to rise above the law, to become the law himself simply because he holds actual political, military or financial power.
The strengthening of legal awareness is a task of all state institutions, particularly those which are entrusted with responsibility for respect of the law. To a great extent this is also dependent on the attitude of politicians, parties, the public and those who formulate public opinion. The reputation of the courts and judges is especially in the interest of a stable country and security of its citizens, their freedom and equality. They must have authority and enjoy general respect, such that nobody might be caught trying to arrogate rights to themselves. Respect of the law, the courts, state bodies and symbols always has a moral foundation. It is hard to expect subordination to the law without strengthening the general morality and values of society. This respect must be proved and strengthened through our own behaviour, particularly through an unyielding attitude towards unacceptable phenomena such as crime, corruption, violence, xenophobia, intolerance of anything different and the seeds of racism and violation of human rights, regardless of who is involved and who is affected. The most dangerous things for democracy are legal disorder and the disintegration of morality on the streets. The path to the disintegration of society begins with the acceptance of the first denigration of human dignity or violation of a person's rights. The exalted calls for freedom of the individual which we hear so often in Slovenia must receive a practical confirmation in our response to every single violation of the law or human rights.
The free life of people in a humane society, and the stability of that society are, perhaps more than we are prepared to admit, dependent on what a person as a social being is prepared to do, how much he is ready to get involved in public affairs and to share responsibility in public life, and it is dependent on his relations towards his fellow citizens, to the community and to the state. And here of course I mean the civil society, its movements and institutions. This, perhaps more solid foundation than all others in a truly democratic system, cannot be commanded. It simply grows or does not exist, it develops and has an influence or has none. What a state must do in this is to be aware of the importance of the civil society, and not present obstacles for it; if obstacles arise, the state should remove them. This does not refer simply to formal obstacles. It refers above all to political and moral disqualifications, if the civil movements do not serve this or that party political taste or interest. Civil movements and civil solidarity have played such an important role in Slovenia's renaissance, that our country must remember this tradition and keep developing it anew in a manner appropriate to the times and prevailing conditions.
It sometimes appears that we are being overtaken by events, and that we are running out of time for serious reflection. We might even say that political decisions have started to be dominated by purely pragmatic, opportunist criteria on the basis of an ill-considered or even totally lacking vision of the future development of Slovene society and the Slovene state. The truth of today's world is burdensome and complex, and constantly demands more from everyone, including us. There is no doubt that strategic considerations and decisions will be easier with a vision which will be founded on a certainty and awareness of what kind of state we wish to be, how we want to live and what we must do to achieve this. This would also provide the best foundation for those decisions which would indicate that Slovenia is also a society based on social welfare, able to show sympathy for the everyday troubles and problems people face, and able to demonstrate solidarity, patience and mutuality as the basis of the inner stability of the state and the connection between our people.
Practically every European country faces the responsibility of formulating a clear picture of itself and its future. This has been engendered by the great social changes as we approach the end of the 20th century, symbolised by the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is not simply a process going on in the countries of Eastern Europe, which have thrown off the yoke of ideological blockade from the middle of this century; it is also a question of changes on a world scale. Along with new technology and the global nature of markets, this has triggered processes of independent involvement of numerous new countries in the international arena. The international order has begun to change and take on a new image. We can see the formulation of new measures, new systems, new targets and possibilities. In line with these challenges, countries are formulating new foreign policies and seeking strategic links. It is now time for that reflection which creates space and opportunity for the intelligent placing of the nation's future in the international community. We must prepare ourselves for involvement in the process of European integration. We must nurture our European character and at the same time assert our national characteristics. We need an awareness of the fact that we will be good Slovenes, if at the same time we are good Slovene Europeans, and of course, we will be good Europeans if we are good European Slovenes. The attempt to create a new political order and cooperation in Europe on a just basis and on equality of all has no precedent on this continent. This is a great opportunity for Europe and for the whole world. Here the Slovenes cannot stand on the side-lines, and miss the opportunity for us, too, to bring to this association our spiritual and cultural diversity and moral values, where Europe has no future simply as a pragmatic community. These are also the principles on which we will arrange our relations with our neighbours, find strategic partners and determine the price of our involvement in the world.
Only in this way will we confirm and show to the world that we have a place among those countries which do not live from one day to the next, whose future does not depend on the coincidental influences and interests of others, and among those countries which have a vision and simply know what they want, and which are able and wish to influence their own fate through a clear energy and will. The question of vision is a question of spirit. The problem of the Slovene vision is a problem of Slovene spirituality. Just as another Slovene problem is its confusion from its own quarrels.
Behind us now is the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the victory over Fascism and Nazism. On this occasion the world was aware and showed how that war belongs irrevocably in the past. The former victors and former vanquished have been united now by a concern and responsibility for the future. For ourselves, sadly, we were not able to do such a thing on this anniversary. This represents a great lost opportunity, and we are all responsible for it. But as a nation and state we marked this anniversary with dignity, and we gave no doubt as to how the Slovene nation declared itself in this great civilisational settling of the score. In as much as I sincerely regret that it was not possible for us to unburden ourselves of the past unconditionally, I am aware that we are left with nothing other than to try again and again to bridge these divisions and our own past; once and for all to be aware of the terrible consequences for our nation of the evil of division. That we can do this and that this will be of incalculable benefit for the Slovene nation, we have shown in the battle for our own state and its international recognition. This state, the first that the Slovenes have ever had, should represent a cornerstone which enables and demands the bridging of these exclusive divisions. If we cannot do this now, perhaps we can do it on a future state birthday, or perhaps after several years. But be sure, one day we will do it. We must believe this and strive constantly for it.
The years ahead of us will be extremely important for the Slovene state and for all of us. The results of events and decisions which will be taken, will to a great extent determine the quality of life and the image of the state up to the end of this millennium and beyond it. There is therefore a great responsibility held by this, our now living generation of Slovene men and women, and particularly by all of us to whom has been entrusted the administering of this state and consequently the fate of the nation. A glance back to those times before our independence can tell us that there is no excuse for small-mindedness, doubt or even cancelling what we proved to the world on that unforgettable June evening in 1991. And more, much more: we have created conditions which allow for new hopes. I believe that we will fulfil them together, and together add new ones. For the future, and for the generations to whom it belongs.
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