Vaclav Havel

eep the United Nations alive? Do we care or are we indifferent? The Czech Government’s foreign policy is guided by the legacy of our former President Vaclav Havel — a globally respected human rights defender and renowned politician, who once said, “Our indifference towards others can, after all, result in only

Republic, and the entire region of Central Europe, regained freedom. This year we are celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Vaclav Havel, whose name has become known to the whole world, grew to be the symbol of that revolution. In 1989, we were under the rule of a foreign empire. Our c

anist legacy of my great compatriots, the first Czechoslovak President, Tomá. Garrigue Masaryk, and the first President of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel. The first precondition for human dignity is the possibility of enjoying life without threats to one’s physical integrity and physical suffering. For

llenges have emerged. A great deal of work still lies ahead of us. The Czech Republic, a member of the Human Rights Council and the country of Václav Havel, will always defend human rights wherever they are violated. In conclusion, I should like to focus on issues related to the process of reforming the

occupation. Two years ago, from this very podium, I suggested that there were two ways to leave communism behind and to re-enter history — the way of Vaclav Havel and the way of Slobodan Miloševic, the way of liberal democracy and tolerance, on one side, and the way of authoritarianism and ethnic nationalism, o

roud and sovereign nation. But, tragically, Georgia today, like Germany a generation ago, is a nation with a deep wound running through it. As Václav Havel and other leading voices of Europe’s conscience declared earlier this week, Europe is today divided by a new wall built by an outside force — a wall

-General’s efforts to advance that issue. A valuable contribution can also be made through the non-governmental initiatives of leaders such as Václav Havel, Kjell Magne Bondevik and Elie Wiesel. Earlier this week, I had the honour to host an event in New York aimed at presenting their thoughts and recomm

by so many here, by the free media, by courageous human rights groups and by leading voices of the world’s conscience, from Natan Sharansky to Václav Havel. Rhetoric, however, is no longer enough; today, we must act. If words were sufficient, then something might have come from the many calls for peace a

esponsible for their own repression, I can only reply that much the same was once said about Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Václav Havel. The world is not fooled, and we must not be silent. Some argue that speaking out in defence of human rights constitutes interference in internal aff

for all. We look with expectations to the proposed Millennium Assembly to be held in the year 2000, inspired, among others, by Czech President Václav Havel. The Millennium Summit held within its framework could then focus on the challenges the United Nations will be facing in the next millennium and iden

tes. His proposals have been supported also by the 16 Heads of State and Government associated in the Carlsson Group, of which Czech President Václav Havel is also a member. As this Group stated in its declaration of 10 August 1997 on the Secretary-General’s reform proposals, the United Nations has a cha

from “the scourge of war” and for “better standards of life in larger freedom”. I close my remarks today on a note of hope, quoting President Václav Havel of the Czech Republic, who said, “Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not a conviction that something will turn out well, but th

er of the Commission, we intend to contribute actively to its work and to meet the objectives of the international community in this field. President Havel is one of the 16 Heads of State or Government who have recently issued a statement on reviving multilateralism. The statement voices deep 19 concern

lving global problems. The United Nations efforts to implement the principles of its Charter enjoy the full support of the Czech Republic. Mr. Václav Havel, the President of the Czech Republic, will no doubt underline the importance we assign to it when he speaks from this rostrum next month. Nevertheles

for good has been illustrated many times in the course of this century by a Mahatma Gandhi, by a Martin Luther King, or, in the past few years, by a Vaclav Havel or a Nelson Mandela, who, from a prison cell - "enduring the most" changed his country's history. By upholding the rights of the individual we bring

s fiftieth birthday. National and well-thought-out changes could create a significant revival on this anniversary. In Prague last June our President, Vaclav Havel, offered some thoughts on the spirit needed to meet and shape our rapidly changing times. I believe that we could make the kinds of alterations I hav

must be developed into a comprehensive partnership for security. Cooperative security structures must emerge. Our alliance, as Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel confirmed in his address to the NATO Council on 21 March, 1991, was never a threat to others. The ending of the East-West confrontation has opened th

e to contend with political and social unrest stemming from economic difficulties, ethnic conflict and, in some cases, extreme nationalism. President Vaclav Havel of the Czech and Slovak Republic has pointed out that the democratisation of Central and Eastern Europe and their transition to market economies are

ion broadly conceived programmes. In his message to the President of the Commission of the European Community, Jacques Delors, Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel, proposed that the European Community, together with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, set up a programme aimed at a continent-wide soluti

Cambodia, or Eastern Europe, or South Africa or anyplace else on the globe is not just an internal matter. Some time ago the Czech dissident writer, Vaclav Havel, warned the world that "respect for human rights is the fundamental condition and the sole genuine guarantee of true peace".