Czech President, in New Year's speech, says extremists and populists tempt people with promises that will just intensify problems

At the same time, however, Pavel expressed appreciation for the fact that the cabinet of the Spolu (Together) coalition (the Civic Democratic Party – ODS, the Christian Democrats – KDU-ČSL, the Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 – TOP 09 party), the Pirates party and the Mayors and Independents (STAN) party has not experienced internal disputes of a more serious nature and that it has attempted to address the country’s deficit. According to the head of state, the future will logically involve adopting the common European currency, and thus after many years of delay, concrete steps should start that will lead the Czech Republic toward fulfilling its obligation to adopt the euro.

In the first New Year’s speech of his tenure, Pavel also said that he is not pleased with how the discussion of politics has been vulgarized. “Disagreements are part of democracy and can even be fruitful. However, if they descend into pointless haggling, name-calling or even insults, that is a failure that yields nothing good,” he said.

Pavel appealed to his fellow politicians to make one of their New Year’s resolutions the cultivation of the public space, not its deprecation. In the context of the upcoming elections to the European Parliament, the Regional Authorities and the Senate, he clearly defined himself as against extremists and populists.

“The populists and extremists who tempt people with pleasant promises and who do not refrain from abusing or even directly fuelling our fears win votes easily. However, in reality, they then just intensify problems and exhaust both their country and their people,” Pavel said.

“Let’s consider what kind of solutions politicians are presenting in a responsible way, consider whether plans which are realistic and results which will be verifiable are behind those solutions. Consider whether they know how to find compromise and contribute a vision, or whether they just divide people, intimidate them and accuse them,” the President said.

Pavel also reached out to young people in his speech. According to him, it is important that they take an interest in those around them and do their best to change things for the better.

Society needs the ideas of the younger generation as well as their ability to stand up for themselves, their activity and their bravery, according to the head of state. Pavel said he is aware of how little consolation there is for young people thinking of a future in which it will be all but impossible for them to afford economic independence and satisfactory housing in a world where the natural environment is collapsing.

“I am aware…how hard it is to function under the pressure of the digital world, which presents us all not just with an endless influx of information, opportunities and non-stop communication, but at the same time with the demands which we all are making of you,” the President said. These insecurities impact the mental health of some, he added.

Pavel also recalled the tragic mass murder at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts in Prague. “The senseless loss of so many lives, most of them young ones, has evoked not just enormous sorrow and regret in us, but also internal rage,” the President noted.

“Despite the fact that these feelings will be with us for a long time, as a society we must overcome our fear first and foremost. We cannot allow the joy of life and the hope of better times to come to be taken away from us,” the country’s first new President in 10 years said in his first New Year’s speech.

Pavel’s predecessor, Miloš Zeman, regularly sent his Christmas message to the country on 26 December.

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DOCUMENT: The 2024 New Year’s Speech of the President of the Czech Republic

Esteemed fellow citizens,

It is a great honor to be able to deliver my first New Year’s speech to you all. 

I have always perceived the New Year to be a day full of anticipation that the times ahead of us will be better and more joyful than those we are leaving behind us. I still perceive it that way today, and my wish for you all is that the coming year will actually be so. I hope you all will spend it in good health, with a feeling of fulfillment. I hope it will be a happy and successful year for you all. 

I have no choice but to begin with what happened to us all 11 days ago. We thought that such a tragedy would never happen in our country, that it couldn’t even happen. We thought we were living in total security and that what happens elsewhere in the world does not affect us.

The senseless loss of so many lives, most of them young ones, has evoked not just enormous sorrow and regret in us, but also internal rage. Despite the fact that these feelings will be with us for a long time, as a society, we must overcome our fear first and foremost. We cannot allow the joy of life and the hope of better times to come to be taken away from us. I hope that the candles and flowers being laid at the remembrance sites also mean there is a common will for us not to be intimidated by cruelty and violence, that we are commemorating the personal heroism of everybody who managed to stand up to evil, and that our country will come out of this horror stronger and more united, if only for the sake of those who died at the hands of evil.

There is just one culprit for this tragedy, although we certainly will find there are circumstances which could have aided its occurrence. Let’s not look for other culprits at which to point the finger. It is not possible to ensure a police presence in all public places. Likewise, enough controls and regulations to eliminate all dangers will never exist. We must analyze what happened and why. We can improve the laws, the controls and the measures, but we cannot give up our freedoms out of fear.

Let’s strive together for better security for our families, our streets, our communities and the country as a whole. We can do so by thinking not just of ourselves, but in the context of the communities in which we live. Let’s not ignore aggressive behavior, including on social media, let’s stand up for those who are the weaker, let’s not ignore the problems around us. Let’s be prepared for crisis situations, but let’s not allow ourselves to be paralyzed with fear. Last year must not be defined just by December’s tragic events. I would, therefore, like to look back on other things that took place.

Allow me to first discuss domestic politics. For the first time in history, the Czech Government comprises five parties. In the past, we have experienced many times that coalitions with significantly fewer members were a source of constant disputes which sapped their strength to contribute good political solutions, disputes which undercut people’s trust in democratic processes and public institutions. Despite it surely being complicated to find consensus in a group of five, we have been spared such contention from the Government for almost two years now. I am glad about that. Likewise, I appreciate the Government’s unpopular attempt to address the country’s deficit, despite the fact that the paths it has chosen are sometimes full of twists and turns, marked by the balancing of the coalition’s demands, and we don’t necessarily like them.

The opposition’s task is not to aid the Government or make its life easier. The point of the opposition is to critique the cabinet and present alternative solutions. The Government is making the opposition’s task all the easier because it is failing to explain its measures and reform steps. It is failing to persuade the public about them and thereby to win them over. However, unpleasant and unpopular changes are essential if we are to extricate ourselves from our difficulties.

I am not pleased with how the discussion of politics is vulgarized. Disagreements are part of democracy and can even be fruitful. However, if they descend into pointless haggling, name-calling or even insults, that is a failure that yields nothing good. For that reason, today, I am appealing to my fellow politicians to include among their New Year’s resolutions one to cultivate, not deprecate, our public space.

However, all politicians are ultimately responsible to you, the citizens. This year you all will have an opportunity, through the European, Regional and Senate elections, to make it clear what you all expect from your politicians. This is a big opportunity to influence the future direction of our country and the European Union. Please do not let this opportunity pass you by.

The populists and extremists who tempt people with pleasant promises and who do not refrain from abusing or even directly fuelling our fears win votes easily. However, in reality, they then just intensify problems and exhaust both their country and their people. The big concerns of ours, such as economic stagnation, the energy crisis, environmental protection, inflation and security, do not jut disappear when we close our eyes to them. On the contrary. Let us therefore consider what kind of solutions politicians are presenting in a responsible way, consider whether plans which are realistic and results which will be verifiable are behind those solutions. Consider whether the politicians know how to find compromise and contribute a vision, or whether they just divide people, intimidate them and accuse them.

It is not at all easy to be responsible. The equation of which we are all a part, however, is a simple one. Whatever we postpone today, we will have to address even more painfully several years from now. What we do not do will have to be done by our children, and it will be more complicated for them by far. That’s not fair.

There are problems which originate far beyond our borders and strongly influence our lives nonetheless in today’s interconnected world, and at a time when serious wartime conflicts are underway in our own neighborhood, unfortunately more than ever before. The European Union gives us a chance to best advocate for our interests and apply our influence. Together with NATO, the EU is a guarantee to us that the Czech Republic has partners on whom it can rely and who are strong. A guarantee of such a kind is priceless today.

This year in particular we are commemorating the 20th and 25th anniversaries of our joining those organizations. That affords us an opportunity both to look back and at the same time to look to the future for the direction in which we want to head. It is also an opportunity to commemorate the pledges we voluntarily made when joining the Alliance and the Union. The first pledge is to invest in defending our country. After a long hiatus, we are again fulfilling that pledge this year. The second pledge is to adopt the common European currency. It is high time that we begin taking concrete steps leading toward our fulfillment of that pledge after all these years. Despite the endless discussions of the advantages and the disadvantages of the euro for a country with an export economy lying in the center of Europe, one that is open, the common currency is our future, logically so.

Now I would like to address young people, and not just because recent tragic events have touched all of you so closely. I am aware how little consolation there is for you to think of a future in which it seems that it will be all but impossible to achieve your own economic independence and satisfactory housing, a future in a world where the natural environment is collapsing, how hard it is to function under the pressure of the digital world, which presents us all not just with an endless influx of information, opportunities and non-stop communication, but at the same time with the demands which we all are making of you, and the impact that the insecurity of the current and future world is having on the mental health of some you. I know that your idea of a family and an ideal life is different from your parents’, that you see injustice in today’s world in the divisions of power and wealth. Despite this, I have the feeling that your values are very often firmer than the values with which we all entered our adult lives.

Society needs your ideas, your ability to stand up for them, your activity and your bravery. The young generation has always been the bearer of change. For that reason, it is worth taking an interest in those around you and doing your best to change things for the better. I know many of you are doing that despite encountering incomprehension. I appreciate you for it.

For that reason, I will be supporting transformations which will draw the attention of politicians and society to the difficulties of the younger and very youngest generations. I am also prepared to initiate such transformations. I hope that we will all have enough energy to fix these things which seem dysfunctional to us all.

The year 2024 is full of expectations. There is no doubt that these expectations relate to our country’s and our households’ economic situations. We are anticipating lower inflation, a growth in real wages after the last few years, and economic growth that will be modest, but growth nonetheless. It can be the beginning of a positive turnaround, a bouncing back from the bottom toward a better mood.

In addition, many of us will be holding on to our hopes that we will win medals at the domestic World Ice Hockey Championship or at the biathlon in Nové Město in Moravia.

Last March, thanks to your trust, I came to Prague Castle and took over an office that was closed in upon itself, closed to the people. This office had given up on the citizens’ needs, on plans, and on vision. I have been working to change that ever since. As of today, the agenda of pardons is returning to the hands of the President. I have appointed seven new Constitutional Court justices who, for the next 10 years, will be protecting constitutionality, civil rights and human rights in our country. I have visited 10 of 14 regions so far. I have had the opportunity to hear not just many inspiring, interesting stories, but also to hear about difficulties and problems, and I am doing my best to contribute to solving them. While, as President, I do not have so many concrete powers, I am attempting to bring things out of the shadows, to raise subjects which are overlooked, and to remind other politicians of what is usually being forgotten.

Esteemed fellow citizens, during demanding moments we are able to lean on our loved ones – our family, friends, or somebody nearby who is willing to aid us. My family provides me that support too, mainly my wife Eva, who had to take up a new role last year. I admire how she is mastering it.

I hope all of you have somebody you can lean on when necessary, somebody with whom you can share joy when you have a success. That alone is a great happiness.

In the year to come I wish you all mainly good health, happiness, and a big dose of good will.