ambassador speeches

Remarks for 23rd World Congress of Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences 2006

June 26, 2006, Ceske Budejovice

President Rechcigl, Vice Rector Papoušek, fellow Ambassadors, distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is an honor today to address this World Congress on behalf of the United States. You can be rightly proud of your organization’s dedication to the pursuit of knowledge, the free dissemination of ideas, and the fostering of contacts among people.

You have asked me here today to discuss the current state of relations between the United States and the Czech Republic. It is with great pleasure that I stand before you today and state that the ties between our two countries are strong and getting stronger every day.

Today I will talk about the state of relations between our two great countries, but I also want to examine something deeper: The question of why we work so well together. I am sure Ambassador Kolar, who is serving the Czech Republic superbly in Washington, will agree that this Czech-American relationship is more profound than the sum of our diplomatic efforts, and deeper even than linkages of the kind encouraged by this conference.

As we gather here today, Czechs and Americans work side-by-side around the world to promote the freedom, stability and security.  From Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo to Pakistan, and the Tsunami-affected countries of Asia, Czechs and Americans have proven that they are committed to making the world a better place for all.

The United States and the Czech Republic stand together on the issue of democratization.  The Czech Republic has a well deserved reputation as a country that stands up for the little guy.  A country that defends those whose human rights have been trampled on in places like Cuba, Belarus, Burma, and North Korea. 

The Czech Republic is not only itself a voice for freedom, it is home to many more. Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty broadcasts promote democracy, human rights, and freedom around the world, right from the top of Vaclavske Namesti.  Czech NGOs such as People in Need are some of the most effective in the world at promoting transformational change in societies where people today have no right to select their rulers.

The Czechs and the Americans are natural partners, and we will continue our work with you around the globe.  We will do this bilaterally and we will work together to achieve this in organizations such as the UN and NATO. 

When pondering current challenges, and those of the future, I am guided by our shared experience of the past.  Both of our great nations owe much of our national identity, the very way we see ourselves, to our common past.  The shared burdens of WWII, the scars of the Cold War, and our mutual victory of Central Europe’s return to democracy helped define our nations.

The United States and the Czech Republic are partners.  Why do we work so well together?  Why will it last?  I believe today’s unity of purpose will carry forward into the future because we share fundamental values.  In 2002 President Bush began his speech in Prague with the observation that “America is bound to Europe by the deepest convictions of our common culture -- our belief in the dignity of every life, and our belief in the power of conscience to move history.”  This was not a new idea, nor was it a uniquely American one.  Indeed this very notion was expressed here, a long time ago. Masaryk once declared that “Democracy is not only a political system, but a moral one as well - a moral one first of all.”

In today’s world both the United States and the Czech Republic live by these principles.  We believe there are moral imperatives governments must fulfil, in order to make the world a better place for everyone.  I quote one of your own policy experts when I say that without a foreign policy of values there is only a foreign policy of interests.  I ask you if everyone in the world were to act uniquely in their own interests, without regard to values, would the world ever get any better?

  Today dictators in Cuba and Belarus do not see isolated opposition from the United States, they see principled opposition from many nations, often with the principled leaders of the Czech Republic in the vanguard.  Today the Taliban fighters who would seek to reinstitute a reign of terror and oppression in Afghanistan must fight their way through both American and Czech special forces, deployed shoulder-to-shoulder to achieve our common aim.  The Taliban cannot be allowed to win. We will succeed because the United States, the Czech Republic, and our allies all share the deeply-rooted conviction that what the Taliban seek to achieve is wrong.

No relationship is ever without disagreements and no country is perfect, on either side of the Atlantic. We are sometimes so close that all we seem to notice is differences. When I arrived in the Czech Republic there was much talk about divisions between Europe and the United States, and many questions about future cooperation.  Thankfully we all know that those tensions largely dissipated, as we together reinvigorate transatlantic dialogue on every major issue of our times.  In the most difficult moments our closest allies were there.  I want to acknowledge the role of the Czech Republic and some of the other new member states of the EU in helping to bridge some of the gaps in the U.S.-European relationship.  I know that Washington and Prague are equally committed to preserving and enhancing the transatlantic relationship in the future.

When all is said and done, the U.S., and the Czech Republic are natural allies.   We are some of the most like-minded peoples in the world, sharing a common understanding of history, common democratic values, and interconnected economies.  Why will this relationship endure into the future?  The cold war is a dim memory for an increasing proportion of our populations, and the geographical distance between our two countries is large.  However I believe this will endure because, as with every passing generation, international relations will always be personal.  Governments come and go (as I’m sure you may have noticed in recent weeks), but the character of people and friendship has more enduring quality. It is the links between our peoples that will always sustain our friendship.

The United States is a part of Czech life, and the Czech Republic is also part of the American experience.  Let me be specific and give you just one example by telling you the story of a man by the name of Randy Weissman, just a regular 26 year old American who happens to like hockey.  In February of this year the New York Times used him as an example of the way U.S. and Czech life have become intertwined.  Mr. Weissman holds season tickets to the New York Rangers, but he wears a Czech jersey to the games.  Five Rangers were picked for the Czech Olympic team last year, and when they went to Turin they took the hearts of New Yorkers with them.  As Randy put it to the reporter: ''I have to root for the U.S. … but the second they go down, I'm a Czech fan all the way.''  Randy is not alone.

It’s not just the famous and the exceptionally gifted that are tying our two countries together. It is our everyday citizens. This year 50,000 Czechs who do not play in the NHL will come to America. They will travel to all 50 states, and meet millions of Americans. 3000 of your finest students will spend the summer on our J-1 visitor program, working and traveling across the U.S., and gaining a deeper cultural understanding of Americans that they could ever receive in a lecture hall. 500 Czech students will start college in America. For up to four years they will become the face of the Czech Republic to their fellow classmates and professors, and giving thousands more Americans a tie to the Czech Republic.

Personal experience is the greatest possible foundation for the future relationship between our two countries. Our peoples have already gotten to know each other, and this process will continue. This trend will get even better. Today I repeat my pledge that I will work to facilitate travel for Czechs who want to visit, study in, or conduct business in the United States.  Our policy is clear: This Administration wants to win visa-free travel for Czechs. We are working together towards that end. As the President said in Vienna last week: He is committed to visa-free travel for these countries and the road map is a way to help them achieve that goal.

This year we expect 350,000 Americans will visit the Czech Republic. (I’m sure it sometimes seems to you that every single one of them is on the Charles Bridge. If it is any consolation to you, my staff sometimes wonder if every one of the 350,000 has somehow lost their passport.) These 350,000 traveling Americans will also experience some of life in the Czech Republic, and will go home with a fondness for this place, a fondness that will not easily be swayed by the political winds of the future.

In conclusion, the Czech-U.S. relationship is strong and deep, it succeeds because of our common view of the world, and it will endure in future because our successors will continue that relationship as they get to know each other. I am proud to have been a steward of the U.S.-Czech relationship and I look forward to its successful future.

I leave you with a Czech proverb: “Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends.” The United States helps protect the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic helps protect the United States. And together, I am very glad to say, we help protect the world.

Thank you.