A historic speech. "The point is not to grab as many powers as possible, but to ensure that the political and economic system works effectively in the interests of everyone" — Václav Havel

A historic speech. “It is not a question of seizing as many powers as possible, but of ensuring that the political and economic system functions effectively for the benefit of all” — Václav Havel

During the years of the communist regime, his works were banned, and he was imprisoned several times.

In November 1989, communist rule in Czechoslovakia collapsed as a result of peaceful protests. Because not a single drop of blood was spilled, this event was called the "Velvet Revolution." On December 29 of that year, Havel was elected president of the country.

However, the celebration of the revolution did not last long. The independent Czechoslovak state formed in Prague on October 28, 1918, had united two nations — Czechs and Slovaks. The mutual dissatisfaction suppressed during the communist era resurfaced with the arrival of freedom. Slovaks began to openly state that they felt like second-class citizens in the state.

In the spring of 1990, a debate even began over the country's name. Slovaks demanded that the name be written with a hyphen, as "Czecho-Slovakia." For them, this hyphen was a symbol of two equal nations. Ultimately, on April 23, the state was renamed the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic.

On October 28 of that year — on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the country's independence — when Havel delivered a holiday address from the podium, nationalist sentiments were running high in the country. Havel's speech was not limited merely to holiday greetings. It was also a timely warning addressed to the two nations.

History showed that his concerns were not unfounded. In July 1992, the Slovak parliament adopted a declaration of sovereignty. Unwilling to preside over the dissolution of the state, Havel resigned from the presidency. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia split into two independent states — the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This separation also occurred peacefully and went down in history as the "Velvet Divorce."

Seventy-two years ago, at approximately this very hour, the representatives of our nations united in the National Council adopted the law on the establishment of the Czechoslovak state in Prague's Municipal House. In the very first sentence of this first law of ours, it is written: "The independent Czechoslovak state has come into being."

On October 28, 1918, this state truly came into being.

Our foreign resistance movement led by Masaryk, Štefánik, and Beneš, along with the many years of struggle by many of our leaders inside the country, achieved victory with the support demonstrated that day by the entire people through mass demonstrations. On the ruins of the fallen Austro-Hungarian monarchy, against the backdrop of its defeat in the war, arose not only our modern independent state, but also the first democratic state on our land throughout the entire long history of our peoples.

October 28 is rightly considered our greatest state holiday. Today, this occasion holds a special celebratory spirit for us more than ever: for the first time after a long hiatus, we have the opportunity to speak the whole truth about October 28, 1918, openly and to restore this date to its true meaning. For the first time after many decades, without beating around the bush and without any hesitation, we again have the opportunity to applaud the ideas closely linked to this day — noble goals such as freedom, political pluralism, genuine democracy, civic equality, social justice, humanism, and, most importantly, full state independence.

All of this, undoubtedly, is genuinely worth rejoicing over. However, if we regard today's solemn date merely as a reason for celebration, we will be dangerously deceiving ourselves.

This is not just a holiday celebration. At the same time, this day is also a serious challenge urging us to reflect deeply on ourselves. We are living in a time that poses countless and alarming questions before us. At their core lies one main question: can we manage to establish the values we championed when we rose against the totalitarian regime almost a year ago, and realize the noble ideas we openly declared back then, and how will we achieve this?

Unfortunately, we do not have many reasons for peace of mind. Even the social changes that seemed so easy to achieve a few months ago are progressing exceedingly slowly and with great difficulty. Along with the growing self-interest among people, anxiety, discontent, intolerance, and apathy are also rising. We are living in a stifling atmosphere. Due to our swift and peaceful revolution, we are gradually losing the trust we earned abroad. The outside world is observing us with growing hesitation, increasingly expressing concern that our ability to build a new system is falling dangerously behind the ability we demonstrated in destroying the old regime.

I am confident that everything will end well in the end. However, at the same time, if everything truly gets back on track in the end, we will achieve this through one thing alone: because we managed to find the strength within ourselves to look directly at ourselves, at all our past failures and their true causes, including those causes that stem solely from ourselves and our flaws.

It is not my task today to comprehensively analyze the difficult situation in which we find ourselves. I will focus on just one topic directly and intrinsically linked to the emergence of our state.

Seventy-two years ago, Czechoslovakia came into being based on our common will, embodied by the most prominent intellectuals of the two nations. The most conscientious Czechs and Slovaks, whether operating in our homeland or abroad, unanimously agreed that living together within a single state was the sole guarantee for us of independent statehood and free national development. This shared, firm conviction even led our Czech and Slovak ancestors to the conclusion that our two peoples were actually two branches of a single nation. As is known, they were deeply mistaken in this matter, but the very fact that they reached such a conclusion testifies to how deep their belief was in our interconnectedness.

As you well know, our common life in a single state is undergoing a major trial these days. The freedom we have gained poses a legitimate question before us: was the decision of our forefathers free and correct?

I sincerely believe that it was the right decision. At the same time, I am also convinced that today we must free this decision from illusions associated with the exigencies of the time and impart a new meaning to it. We are not a single Czechoslovak nation, but two nations with equal rights to national identity and sovereignty. At the same time, we are a state where many national minorities live, and they also have their rights. One such right is the right to be full-fledged citizens of our federative state.

By striving to enrich the federative structure of our state with new content, we want to give new meaning and new life to our ancestors' decision.

We say that we are building a real federation. This is an extremely complex and arduous process, accompanied by countless debates, mutual misunderstandings, unexpected situations, and even discontents. If I were to compare this process to giving birth to a child, I would say that it is certainly not a painless labor. So, what is necessary for this labor to be successful, for a truly healthy and viable baby to be born?

In my view, only one thing is necessary for this: we must all awaken a sense of responsibility within ourselves and employ virtues such as common sense, a broader perspective on the situation, a practical approach, tolerance, the courage to face the truth, and understanding of others.

Therefore, I call upon all Czechs to strive to understand the heart of the Slovak people and to free themselves from all remnants of contempt and unfounded superiority that have been observed in relations with Slovaks over the years. I ask them not to respond to various demands aimed at strengthening Slovak identity merely with contemptuous mockery or lack of understanding.

I call upon all Slovaks, especially Slovak youth, not to fall for the national demagoguery of those who equate national identity and pride with a return to a dark past. Emotional notions depicting the Slovak people as supposedly abandoned, forgotten, and thoroughly oppressed are insulting to this nation. Appeals of this kind do not form a sense of national identity; on the contrary, they reinforce a sense of national inferiority and stir up animosity.

I call upon all Slovaks to demonstrate their political culture by respecting healthy solidarity among their freely elected representatives. A worthy place in the family of European nations is secured through sensible democratic debates, whereas chauvinistic slogans, on the contrary, threaten that very status.

At the same time, I call upon all Czechs and Slovaks to firmly oppose any manifestations of racial, national, and political intolerance and hatred emerging around them, as well as all conscious attempts aimed at undermining our newly forming democracy. The level of democracy is determined not only by the vote of the majority, but above all by how much this majority respects and values the opinions and rights of all minority representatives.

I call upon all representatives at all three political tiers — the two republics and the federal level — to continue to maintain composure and to engage in serious discussions on the optimal distribution of powers in state governance. For it is not a question of seizing as many powers as possible, but of ensuring that our political and economic system functions effectively for the benefit of all.

And finally, I call upon Czechs, Slovaks, and representatives of all national minorities and ethnic groups to accept our federative state as their common task and shared property. Just as we consider ourselves part of our family, our work collective, our party, our church, and our nation, we must also feel ourselves to be citizens of this shared state of ours, built thanks to the extremely wise, morally, culturally, and historically grounded, and geostrategically truly inevitable decision of our ancestors.

October 28, 1918, is bound to October 28, 1990, by thousands of threads, one of which is the issue I mentioned above. On October 28, 1918, the Czechoslovak state came into being. October 28, 1990, poses the question before this state: will it perish through our fault, or will it be revived and gain its second wind?

I believe it will gain its second wind.

I believe that we will successfully pass the test our statehood is currently undergoing. I believe that our common sense, our sense of unity and perseverance, our responsibility, our culture, and our self-preservation instinct will prevail, and we will put to shame all those who doubt our ability to preserve the integrity of our common state, to take responsibility for the obligations it has assumed, and, in general, to manage our own affairs ourselves.