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Speech by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the occasion of the visit by Andrej Kiska, President of the Slovak Republic Schloss Bellevue, 30 April 2019

Farewells are often somewhat melancholy. It is fortunate then that this is not a farewell – neither must we take our leave of Slovakia as a reliable partner and friend in the European Union nor of Andrej Kiska. For although you are departing from the office of President, you are not leaving politics.

This news reached Berlin before you did, and I was pleased to hear it.

Let me say how delighted I am to welcome you to Berlin today. It gives us an opportunity to thank you for your five year term, during which we had your country and yourself as a friend at our side. Moreover, I can look forward to future meetings with you, as well as those with your successor.

Ladies and gentlemen, how does one serve one’s country? Some may feel that that the term “serve” is perhaps no longer in keeping with the times. For ultimately it does not mean only being able to pursue one’s own short term interests but also being willing to give priority to higher interests. As President of a country, one has a duty to ask oneself this question and to find answers. For, of course, there is not just one but many ways to contribute to the welfare of one’s country.

Andrej Kiska must have asked himself this question many times. He certainly found many answers – as a successful businessman, as a philanthropist and founder of an organisation which supports families with children suffering from cancer, as a democrat and, finally, as President of the Slovak Republic.

Anyone who is both a politician and a philanthropist often has to put up with questions being asked as to whether the politician is a good person or is merely trying to make their mark as a benefactor.

ADDRESS Bundespräsidialamt TEL 11010 Berlin FAX +49 30 2000-2021 E-MAIL +49 30 1810200-2870 WEBSITE [email protected] www.bundespräsident.de

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Andrej Kiska, you need not give a second thought to this question. Both as a private individual and as a politician, humanity is the one benchmark for your actions. In my view, that is why you are such a convinced and convincing democrat.

Democracy as a form of government has been shaped by humans. It needs the human mind, its reason and its courage. It needs the readiness to work together and to shoulder responsibility for each other.

Andrej Kiska, you were always prepared to take on responsibility and to be guided by your democratic convictions in exercising this responsibility. And that was necessary. For democracy is not only about the will of the majority but also about safeguarding the interests of minorities. Your commitment to the more vulnerable members of society, including the Roma minority in Slovakia, and your efforts on behalf of refugees all stem from this conviction.

During your five year Presidency, you were a welcome voice of reconciliation and reason for us all. You showed that even a forthright critic of shortcomings and injustices can remain a politician who brings people together rather than pitting them against each other.

Let me quote you: “We often forget what a powerful weapon words can be.” Andrej Kiska, that was one of your messages to schoolchildren from 12 European countries who were participating in the international final of Jugend debattiert in Bratislava back in December 2018. In other words, each and every one of us has a duty to use the power of words responsibly: that is what you wanted to tell young people, with whom you speak often and – as I know from my own experience – with great enjoyment. And talking about my own experience, I also recall with pleasure our joint discussion with young people in Žilina in 2017 on the future of democracy in Europe. The two of us had a similar discussion with Alexander Van der Bellen at the University of Vienna.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Prague Spring last August, you addressed both your fellow Slovaks and Czech citizens. You said it was one thing to condemn the occupation of the country by Warsaw Pact troops but that it was much more important to share this historical experience with the younger generation. Not in order to cultivate enmity but to learn lessons from this experience of dictatorship and humiliation which can be applied to politics today.

I, too, firmly believe that it is important to understand that “never again” is more than an expression of our determination. We have to know the object of our determination, and we have to couple this determination with reason and responsibility.

Mr President, Andrej Kiska, we are grateful for your personal commitment to relations between our countries. I personally would like

page 3 of 3 to thank you for a working relationship based on mutual trust and marked by a respect for freedom, the rule of law and democracy. Our countries are partners in the European Union, allies in NATO and have become friends through this partnership and these ties. How lovely that on a personal level, too, we have always come together in trust and friendship – and I hope that will remain so.

I would like to propose a toast, to the welfare of our two countries and to the personal bond of friendship which has marked our cooperation.