Dear fellow citizens,
At this time, and on this occasion, it is customary to recapitulate the past year. However, I do not want to go back too far. What is important is what lies ahead and, in particular, what we can influence. That is what I would like to talk to you about.
In the New Year, we wish to live it peacefully. May we be healthy and happy. To have as many reasons as possible to be happy and proud. Today, these wishes ring out with an even greater sense of urgency.
For many of us feel apprehensive as we look at the days and events ahead. And I understand that. We are exhausted by the fear spread by the ongoing wars. We are tired of crises. Disappointed by unfulfilled expectations. Worried about the cost of living, which has skyrocketed in previous years. Values that we thought were immutable are being questioned. We are under pressure to form strong opinions on a range of social issues, both essential and non-essential. We are under pressure from great emotions.
This makes it all the more necessary for me to share with you my experience of the last two years, as well as my conviction that the real state of our country is not nearly as bad as we sometimes think based on deliberately spread negative sentiments.
The Czech Republic, unlike many places in this world, is fortunate not to be the direct scene of war or widespread human suffering. On the contrary, it is secured by the strong security network of the North Atlantic Alliance and a number of other international guarantees. Our views and positions are given space and respect abroad. Many people are content with the lives they live.
And although there are undoubtedly areas in which we are lagging behind economically in the long term and our real wages are growing rather slowly, the overall economic situation of our country is not bad. And even if, in a few years' time, we still do not have the same salaries as in Germany, it would certainly support our future prosperity if, like in Germany, they were paid in European currency.
Yes, I am convinced that we can confidently make optimistic plans for the years ahead, not fearful scenarios.
I am confirmed in this again and again in the moments when we meet face to face. When I talk to you about the things you think are important. When you tell me what difficulties you're dealing with and how. When I can see with my own eyes the results of your work, your efforts. And when I witness first-hand that solidarity, mutual help and friendship are unmistakable characteristics of our community.
Naturally, I also perceive that not everyone is doing well. There are households that struggle to overcome life's obstacles day in and day out. A quarter of us live in economically and socially vulnerable areas. And while this does not mean that one in four faces exclusion or poverty, it does mean that a large part of our society is directly affected by the poor state of these areas.
Reducing inequalities between regions is one of the most important challenges we must tackle. Because if we are to succeed as a whole, as a country, we cannot care how the weakest parts of the country fare. And we need to act accordingly in policy.
So I want to say today to you who do not have good living conditions, to you who do not have as many opportunities to find good housing, good jobs, doctors or schools for your children, I want to say that I will continue to make your voice heard. I will continue to use all the tools given to me by the Constitution to ensure that in dealing with your situation, friendliness and the willingness of the political parties to seek a reasonable consensus prevail. This is essential for long-term structural solutions.
That is why travel to the most remote regions, even to the smallest villages and towns, is and will continue to be so important to me.
These times do not favour people who are willing to negotiate, to step back from their positions and to seek compromises. I'm sorry. The ability to talk to each other, to listen to each other and to think about each other's arguments is slowly being lost. The fact that the language of politicians is increasingly reduced to marketing slogans that have little to do with the substance of the matter.
Even a word as pure as peace has become the object of such marketing distortion. As a person who has lived through wars, I am acutely aware of the value of peace and the cost of it. I am sure that all judicial people want to live in peace and that it is certainly not something that should divide us. Let us not let it be imposed on us.
This year we are facing elections to the Chamber of Deputies. We can expect that the facts and arguments by which we should orient ourselves will be covered by an even thicker layer of detached slogans and emotions. We will be confronted more than ever with distortions of the truth, or outright lies.
The elections will be important. They will decide whether and how the most fundamental flaws that plague our country will be addressed. And whether they will be addressed humbly, honestly and in the long term, or just to bring short-term popularity. It is essential that we have a government that guarantees that the Czech Republic will continue to be a safe country, where freedom is preserved, where laws work, where law enforcement is effective, where there is a fair environment for life and business.
I wish each of us would realize how much weight our vote will carry in the election. I wish we could look beneath the labels of liberal, national or conservative. Because real political solutions and decisions are far more important.
It is clear that citizens not only in our country demand politicians who are characterised by decisiveness. That is certainly a good and important quality. However, if it is not complemented by discretion, reason and decency, it can turn out badly.
Most of all, I wish we would not associate any feelings of skepticism and disappointment with the way life is today with the values of democracy. A life of dignity in freedom is of far greater value and satisfaction than a life dependent on the will of any authoritarians. We have had our experience of that.
In an election year, I intend to make more of the substantive issues that have real potential to change our lives for the better. In doing so, I will work with experts and respected personalities, and I will also draw on the experience and insights from my trips to the regions. The aim will be to create a space for an honest and substantive debate between the political parties, based on arguments and facts. And on the other hand, to limit the influence of half-truths, deliberate misinformation and false accusations against opponents by the factual nature of such a debate.
This year will also be extremely important because it will show the future direction of the two largest countries in the European Union, France and Germany. We will also see the first steps of the new American administration and its economic measures towards us, that is, Europe. There will be shifts in the Middle East. We will feel first-hand what the eventual peace in Ukraine will look like, or whether Germany will escape economic stagnation.
We ourselves will have to be much more active. As a country, and as Europe. At the same time as the challenges and pressures to take major decisions, we also have the chance to push for big changes. We must not waste this opportunity. Even if it means a lot of work, even if it takes a lot of effort.
Dear fellow citizens,
I wish you a good year for you personally, full of happiness, health and happy days.
Let me end my New Year's speech on a very personal note. Last year, our fifth grandchild was born. Family is an important background and a source of joy for me, and I wish each of you to have people in your close circle that you can lean on. It is the family that provides us with almost unlimited opportunities to express our own responsibility, love and cohesion.
As parents, grandparents, and entire families, I also wish for us to be able to provide our children with the best possible education, the safest possible space for their development, and to raise a confident, healthy-thinking, and happy generation.
And I wish you, dear schoolchildren, if you are still watching, a happy year. And that sitting in your school desks not only entertains you, but also opens doors to new ideas, adventures and the courage to improve the world around you. After all, you are the ones who will one day make the stories of this country.
Thank you for your attention and I wish you all a Happy New Year.
Petr Pavel, President of the Republic, Prague Castle 1. 1. 2025
castle.cz/ gnews - RoZ
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