Respected citizens,
On the eve of New Year and Christmas holidays, traditionally, we wish peace and prosperity in our home, health, happiness and respect in the family. We are all one big family with one common home – that is our common country.
I wish that in 2020, in our common home, peace and tranquility come to us through civil reconciliation grounded on justice and truth. True reconciliation will come when all of us living in this country are equal citizens with equal rights and obligations. The rule of law and justice will restore not only trust in the institutions but also mutual trust.
I wish for prosperity based on Euro-Atlantic security and values. As NATO membership is a guarantee of stability, EU membership negotiations are an impetus for substantial reform. We have enough domestic potential in important historical moments to unite on important issues. And, there is no more important issue than our European future.
I wish you all health. But let us not forget that our personal health depends largely on the health of our environment, the air we breathe, the water we drink. We all feel the consequences of pollution, regardless of our ethnic, religious, ideological, social or generational background. Therefore, we need to put differences aside and solve this huge problem together.
Finally, I wish we had more respect – for parents, family, friends, but also for neighbors, fellow countrymen, for the country. I believe there is no one born here who does not love his country. But for many reasons, partly justified, partly unjustified, the state does not always return as much as it receives from its citizens and as much as they deserve. That is indeed why fewer people want to stay here.
If we want young people to live here, then, from now on, all of us, responsible politicians, have to work twice as hard for a democratic state and for a free, humane and solidarity society. A society in which everyone feels equally valuable and accepted with its innate human dignity.
Respected citizens,
You are all equally important to the country. Parents and children, teachers and students, workers and retirees, farmers and journalists, doctors and nurses, artists, athletes, civic activists, soldiers and policemen… All of you, all of us, are part of the same family. Let us therefore leave divisions aside, let us respect and help each other, because only in this way will our desires for a better life become a reality. This is the only way to build a common home of happy and united people, who see their future here in their homeland with hope.
Happy and prosperous New Year!
