BRATISLAVA, January 1 (WEBNOVINY)- In his traditional address to the nation on New Year’s Day, Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic said that the country would face a difficult period. “However despite all bad news I think that it is possible to cope with it on the condition that politicians will not throw the entire burden upon the citizens,” said the president specifying that he had on his mind reforms at any price, cuts, restrictions, fees, price hikes and also higher prices of services, energies and transport. The head of state underscored that the citizens cannot cringe and tighten their belts forever. Politicians even cannot want from the citizens to not protect their social and legal certainties that unfortunately have been shrinking and are still more difficult to reach. The head of state said that the answer to the question on how it could happen that things went so far is to be sought in the behavior of the politicians who distanced too much from citizens and their basic human needs.
Life today needs to replace narrow party interests with national, state and higher, i.e. EU interests, emphasized the president. “We know that only those who are free of bickering and intentional spites, restore good will and keep their word and international commitments can find the path to such compromises. This applies to both international politics and also to the local political scene,“ underscored the president.
“I understand that a remarkable proportion of citizens no longer trust politicians and the political system; they think that we have not taken the right direction,‘ said the head of state. He believes that both global and home politics fill the citizens with uncertainty. They do not know to whom to trust, who is true and to whom the truth serves. The head of state ascribes increased distrust in politicians to the fact that people witnessed never before such great disagreement between political powers in individual European countries and also in the European Union as a whole. Though the collapse of the Slovak government had the most inappropriate timing the president hopes that this year’s spring will be a bit calmer. After the elections parliamentary parties should eventually show what service to the nation is and what their mission is. The president reminded citizens that it will depend also on them whom they will entrust with administration of their state.
The president told people to ask themselves where considerateness and compassion and solidarity that unified them after November 1989 faded. “It used to be our national wealth, our basic civic capital,” said the president. However, ideals of the Valet Revolution are attainable the president thinks but it needs a transparent policy, stable economy that it will not be possible to question after each elections by narrow party interests.
The president said in his address as well that during years of seeking right decisions for reforms in health care, education, culture and judiciary a plenty of mistakes, shortcomings, errors and sometimes not quite legal interventions in civic and human rights mounted. However 19 years of independent Slovakia’s existence and also difficult exams its citizens passed in the previous centuries confirm according to the president that we are able to administer our public matters and learn from our own mistakes.
SITA