ambassador speeches

Remarks for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Lunch

October 26, 2005

Greetings and welcome.  We are gathered here today to express our appreciation for the hard work and support of everyone in this room in our mutual goal to relocate the RFE/RL headquarters building to a more secure location in Prague. 

The success of RFE/RL in the Czech Republic would not have been possible without the staunch support of the government on both the national and city levels.  In particular, I would like to thank Foreign Minister Svoboda for his leadership on this issue, and for the generosity of the Czech government which contributed to the move.

Just last month we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the radios here in Prague, and we hope they will continue to broadcast from Prague for many years to come, from their new headquarters in Prague 10.  I look forward to working with the Mayor of Prague 10, Mr. Milan Richter, the Orco Property Group that will be designing and constructing the new building, the Prague Police who have already done so much to ensure a safe environment for the radios, and so many others who will be involved in the permitting and construction phases of the new headquarters building.

No message of appreciation would be complete without an acknowledgment of the significant achievements of Tom Dine, RFE/RL’s President for the past seven years.  Tom will be leaving the radios in just a few days to return to the United States, but his legacy will live on as RFE/RL continues its important mission from its new building here in Prague.  Tom, we will miss you and we wish you the best of success in the future.   Finally, I’d like to express a warm welcome to Jeff Trimble, who will be serving as the Acting President of RFE/RL after Tom’s departure.  We look forward to working with you.