Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša has received the Person of the year 2020 of Central and Eastern Europe award for his outstanding achievements and contribution to the leadership of Europe. The award is given by the programme council of the Economic Forum, which consists of a number of distinguished individuals from politics and the economic sector.
The list of recent winners of the award also includes Mateusz Morawiecki, Jose Manuel Barroso, Jerzy Buzek, Vaclav Havel, John Paul II, and other prominent personalities. Our Prime Minister received the award for his outstanding achievements and contribution to the leadership of Europe. The award is given by the programme council of the Economic Forum, which consists of a number of distinguished individuals from politics and business. It honours personalities who have left an important mark in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as their own country, in the previous year.
At the award ceremony, the Prime Minister also gave an acceptance speech, which we are publishing below:
“Dziękuję za zaproszenie. To dla mnie wielka radość być dzisiaj z Państwem w przepięknym Karpaczu. (Thank you for the invitation. It is a great joy for me to be with you here today, in the beautiful Karpaczu.)
Dear friends, excellencies,
it is a great honour for me to receive this award because Poland has been a model for us in our fights for freedom and democracy in Slovenia and, of course, elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe as well, since the very beginning almost four decades ago, when Slovenia was still very much part of communist Yugoslavia.
With their courage and vision of freedom, the Polish Solidarity movement and Pope John Paul II had inspired all of us who felt the shackles of totalitarian regimes at the time. I myself humbly accept this award, which I see as a commitment and responsibility to strive to achieve our historic goal, which is a comprehensive and free Europe that is at peace with itself. Europe, which is united and strong because all of its member states are strong and free. Europe, inhabited by Europeans who share the values of European civilisation. Europe, where free and proud and sovereign European nations live. For we are Europeans because we are Poles, Slovenians, French, Hungarians, Czechs, Serbs, Ukrainians, and so on.
Central Europe is characterised by Christianity. In this space, the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity emerged from the Catholic social doctrine as the central ideas of European integration. In addition, throughout Europe, Central Europeans have defended the European way of life throughout history. Just think back to the Battle of Vienna in 1683, when units of the Polish-Lithuanian Union defeated the Ottoman Empire and saved the Habsburg Dynasty and the Holy Roman Empire. This was European solidarity at its finest.
Centuries later, Central Europe, unfortunately, became the subject of conflict and division among the great powers. For many decades it suffered under totalitarian rule. But the culture shaped by Christianity, despite repression and control by totalitarian authorities, inspired the freedom fighters. Opposite the raw power of repression stood the power of truth, which ultimately prevailed.
We were inspired by the Solidarity movement and its motto: Nie ma wolności bez Solidarności. “There is no freedom without solidarity.” The fact that a movement with this very name paved the way for freedom and the return of Poland, as well as all Central European countries, to a sovereign place of freedom is of great importance, and it is still worth thinking about today. Solidarity is a bond between members of a community whose goal is for everyone to be involved in the common good they strive for and which they can only achieve together. This must also be the eternal goal or motto of European integration.
In 1988, at the time when I had just been released from prison, Pope John Paul II said that Europe would not be able to breathe easy until it started breathing with both lungs. This mostly happened in 2004. However, our work is not yet complete. Europe is still not whole and free. We have work to do in the Eastern neighbourhood as well as in the Western Balkans. And also at home, in the European Union.
Europe’s prosperity seems to have caught a cold over time, and hopefully, we will not develop asthma from this. In political debate and, in part, in the conduct of certain institutions, the European Union has strayed too far from the fundamental principles of European integration, namely the search for consensus and mutual respect, subsidiarity and solidarity.
To conclude: there cannot be a strong European Union without a strong Central Europe. In fact, the true European Union cannot exist without the countries of Central Europe. Central Europe is becoming more and more what the name of our part of the continent says. This is something central, both in economic and value terms. Once again, the principles on which the founding fathers of the European Union – the majority of whom were Christian Democrats – founded the European Union derive from the well-known guideline of Saint Augustine. And the guideline is: unity in urgent matters, freedom in undecided matters, compassion in all matters. Only on these foundations can we build a strong European building.
Thank you, for in the context of this Forum, as well as by being the heart of Central Europe, you are working hard for all of this. This is how we can learn from each other, and only in this way can we be successful in Europe – by respecting each other and learning from each other.
Dziękuję za uwagę. Thank you for your time.”
Before the award ceremony, the Prime Minister, Janez Janša, attended the 30th Economic Forum in Poland, entitled “Europe in Search of Leadership.” The Economic Forum, which takes place in Karpacz, is the largest conference in Central and Eastern Europe. The Forum, which is traditionally held in Poland in early September, attracts more than 4000 guests every year (political, economic and social leaders), from over 60 countries in Europe, Asia, and America. The purpose of the Forum is to create a favourable environment for the development of political and economic cooperation between the EU Member States and their neighbours.
At the Forum, Prime Minister Janez Janša participated in a panel discussion entitled “Recovery of Europe after Covid-19: The Way Forward.” In the panel discussion, the Slovenian Prime Minister was joined by the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, as well as the Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and the discussion was moderated by Jacek Karnowski, Editor-in-Chief of the Polish newspaper wSieci.
The role of Slovenia will be important
The Prime Minister began the discussion by referring to the Covid-19 pandemic. “The pandemic is a serious challenge, both for us, the smaller countries, as well as for the larger European countries. I hope that vaccination will soon resolve the problem. I also hope that this is the last year we have to put so much effort into fighting the pandemic,” said the Prime Minister. He continued the debate by underlining that he sees two processes in Europe: the transformation of the European economy and the strengthening of resilience. He emphasised that Slovenia’s role in this would be important. In his opinion, it is because of the pandemic that we need significant changes and reforms. “In the Recovery and Resilience Plan, we will strengthen the health sector, closing some of the gaps. Another important area is the digitisation and transformation of those areas most affected by the pandemic.” He also said that we were aware of the limited financial resources available in Europe. “We intend to develop new programmes to reinforce the economy.”
“The geostrategic situation has changed since the pandemic. All major democracies – the US, the European Union, India, Australia and Japan – experienced a decline in gross domestic product a year ago, while China’s economy has grown.” The EU has a lot to learn from recent events, the Prime Minister said.
In the debate, the Prime Minister added that Afghanistan has shown that NATO is highly dependent on a number of factors. “The European Union will be much more exposed to illegal migration than the United States following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, due to its geographical location,” said the Prime Minister, pointing out that we are already facing illegal migration and hybrid warfare, also in Slovenia. The situation in Afghanistan will make it even worse.
The Prime Minister concluded his reflections in a panel discussion at the 30th Economic Forum in Poland by saying that cybersecurity is one of the top priorities and of utmost importance for the European Union. “We need to be able to withstand these attacks, which are only getting stronger. Together, we have more potential than Russia.” On Afghanistan, he went on to point out that the situation in Ukraine is actually more pertinent than Afghanistan and that Europe must focus on common challenges in the region as a whole.
