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The Federal Accountability Act
04 November 2005
Address by the Hon. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
Leader of the Official Opposition
OTTAWA
Friday November 4, 2005
**CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY **
Dear Friends,
Earlier this week, Justice John Gomery confirmed what many Canadians suspected:
• The Liberal party established the Sponsorship program,
• The Liberal party ran the Sponsorship program, and
• And the Liberal party used the Sponsorship program to enrich Liberals and finance Liberal election campaigns.
The judge was clear. He said there was, quote: “clear evidence of political involvement in the administration of the sponsorship program”
Quote: “A complex web of financial transactions… involving kickbacks and illegal contributions” to the Liberal party.
And, quote: “A culture of entitlement among political officials and bureaucrats involved with the sponsorship program”
• Illegal cash and kickbacks
• Fake contracts for no work
• A culture of entitlement and corruption
These are no longer media speculations or partisan statements. These are findings of fact in a judicial inquiry.
Quebeckers, especially, are rightfully angry and outraged. This government lied to them! This government betrayed them!
But to people at home this is about more than the specific sordid details of this particular scandal.
It’s about accountability. Accountability is what Canadians expect when they send their hard-earned tax dollars to Ottawa. It’s what they deserve.
Government exists to serve the public.
• To serve ordinary Canadians
• To serve the people who work hard, pay their taxes and play by the rules.
It’s their money that was stolen. It’s their trust that was broken. And no one has been held accountable.
When I become Prime Minister I will undertake an unprecedented overhaul of the federal government, introducing sweeping reforms to make Ottawa accountable.
That is my commitment to you. Cleaning up government begins at the top.
Paul Martin said he was mad as hell about sponsorship. He went on to blame federal public servants. He blamed former ministers. He blamed his predecessor.
But under Paul Martin’s watch, the waste, mismanagement and corruption has continued. We’ve seen Art Eggleton, a man Jean Chretien fired for giving an untendered contract to a former girlfriend; get rewarded by Paul Martin with a seat in the senate.
We’ve seen Paul Martin working on a half-million dollar severance deal with David Dingwall The guy who hired Chuck Guité to run government advertising, who as an unregistered lobbyist who accepted improper payments, and as a patronage champion who quit his job.
We’ve seen lobbyists making their pitch to Paul Martin and his ministers at $5000 per person cocktail parties. It has to stop. And it will.
Most Canadians don’t think that political office should be a guaranteed, permanent career. It should be a worthy form of limited public service. We all know people in our communities who have served for a term or two on city council, the provincial legislature, as a member of parliament or as one of any of their dedicated staff.
And I think we admire most those who after having done what they came to do, simply decide to return to their former jobs and their former lives. Rather than hanging on in office or around government as lobbyists or political appointees.
I think we all have more respect for those citizens who run for office to change politics, not to have politics change them. And that is how I want to treat my time in public office
I’m here to do a job, not to join a club, not to buy into a lifestyle. And there is no more important job to do than cleaning up government and bringing accountabilty back to Ottawa.
If we don’t clean up government, it will compromise our ability to use government as a force for good in this country.
• To ensure people get timely access to health care.
• To crack down on crime.
• To reduce taxes and reward hard work.
• To improve the quality of our life in communities.
• And yes, to keep our country united.
Canada’s unity is not a reserve of money hidden in the Prime Minister’s office. Not about contracts given to some friends to capitalize on our flag. Not about advertising agencies that created and built Canada.
It is about generations of men and women, from different cultures and backgrounds, who shared, and still do, common ambitions and values.
It is about a Quebec government, over 30 years ago, adopting the most severe and most equitable laws against election corruption.
The federal Liberals didn’t understand that message.
I am telling you today that I will follow this example, as Prime Minister of Canada.
As I’ve already said, as Prime Minister, I will ensure to follow-up Justice Gomery’s findings. We will not only prosecute agencies and individuals; but, as the judge said, the Liberal Party of Canada is responsible as an institution. And the Liberal party will be prosecuted.
Even this exercise will be meaningless unless our government is different. We must clean up corruption and lift the veils of secrecy that allow it to flourish. We must do nothing less than replace the culture of entitlement with the culture of accountability.
As Prime Minister the first piece of legislation I will introduce will be the Federal Accountability Act. The Federal Accountability Act will change the way business is done in Ottawa.
It will give more power to the auditor general, the ethics commissioner, the information commissioner, and the lobbyist registrar.
To make sure that these independent officers of parliament can hold the government accountable. It will make sure that all of the over $30 billion in federal grants, contributions and contracts are awarded fairly and provide value for taxpayers’ money. It will give real protection to those who blow the whistle on unethical behaviour.
It will open the windows on government with long overdue reforms to access to information laws. It will make sure that appointments to public office are fair and based on merit and qualifications.
As some of you may already know: I am not in politics because I am a good dancer or particularly funny. What I want, with the trust of my party, and with the support of all Canadians who want change, is to give a dynamic and honest government to the country we all love.
Nothing more. And nothing less.
I want to highlight three areas of the Federal Accountability Act today.
First and most importantly, this act will end the influence of big money and crack down on a lobbying culture that has thrived under Paul Martin.
As Prime Minister, I will ban all remaining corporate and union donations to federal political parties, period.
People vote, not corporations and unions. And only voters should be funding political parties.
Politics will no longer be a stepping stone to a lucrative career lobbying government.
I will close the loopholes that allow MPs and candidates to create secret personal trust funds. And I will cap all donations to federal political parties at a maximum of $1,000 per year.
This means no more big interests lobbying the Prime Minister at behind closed doors $5,000 a ticket cocktail parties.
This means no more hidden slush funds controlled by MPs and riding associations. All political campaigns will be funded by modest personal donations from people who believe in their cause not by special interests who think they can buy influence with politicians.
Second, we are going to crackdown on the revolving door between ministers’ offices, the senior public service, and the lobbying industry.
We will ban all former ministers, ministerial staffers, or senior public officials from lobbying government for five years. We will require all ministers and senior officials to record their contacts with lobbyists. And we will make sure that there are real teeth and real penalties to enforce the Lobbyist Registration Act.
Taken together, our changes would have prevented a Liberal candidate and Martin insider like Richard Mahoney from lobbying for his clients at Liberal fundraisers without registering. And, they would have prevented David Dingwall from lobbying his old colleagues in government and accepting unethical contingency fee contracts.
Politics will no longer be a stepping stone to a lucrative career lobbying government. Make no mistake, if there are MPs in the room who want to use public office for their own benefit, if there are hill staffers who dream of making it rich trying to lobby a future Conservative government,
If that’s true of any of you, you had better make different plans. Or leave.
Third, as I’ve said we are going to mandate the Auditor General to do a complete review of all of the more than 30 billion dollars in federal grants, contributions, and contracts. The Federal Accountability Act will give her the power to “follow the money” to the end recipients.
She must be able to find out whether money has been stolen, misused, or kicked back to political parties after it has left the federal treasury. Had she had this authority, she might have uncovered the depth of the sponsorship scandal three years ago or more. These and many more changes explained in detail in the Federal Accountability Act will change the way that politics and government is done in this country.
Friends, no government is perfect because none of us are perfect. We cannot “dream of a system so perfect that no one will have to be good.” Whatever the system of rules, we have a duty to do what’s best for the public good when we take the oath of public office.
When I become Prime Minister, those in government will have to serve the public interest, not their personal interests. We are going to change the way government works, not just change the colour on the letterhead.
Now the liberals will say that they too are comitted to reform. They say they will bring in changes to the administration of the public service. And they say that the second Gomery report will have even more ideas for reforming institutions.
We will listen to those ideas for reform.
But this scandal did not happen because of bad public servants or poor auditing. It is a scandal that happened because of the culture of entitlement and corruption in the Liberal party. And the veils of secrecy it has allowed to close around our federal government. The Liberal party has proved incapable of reforming itself.
It only acts after it has been caught.
And its actions are always half measures.
We cannot change the system by asking the opinions of judges and accountants.
As a democratic society, we must hold accountable the party and the people who allowed this to happen under their watch. Creating a different way of doing government must begin by electing a different government. The time has passed for weak reforms, promises, excuses, crocodile tears
It is time to change governments
Only a new government can ensure that those responsible are held accountable to the full extent of the law. And only a new government will be able to impose real reforms that will weed out the remaining problems root and branch.
When I am prime minister we will bring in the Federal Accountability Act. It will not make things perfect, but it will ensure that people are held to account for their actions. This plan which I have introduced is my commitment to Canadians to clean up government and change it forever.
I am proud to be the leader of the new Conservative Party of Canada – very proud. But I don’t want to be the Prime Minister of the Conservatives.
I am also very proud to live in Alberta. But I don’t want to be the Prime Minister of western Canada.
I want to be the Prime Minister of all Canadians. Of all those who work hard to give a better life to their children, to their communities and to their country
It is my personal word as a taxpayer, as a father, and as a fellow citizen.
I want to get this job done.
When my political career is over, I want to leave knowing that future governments will have to be more honest, more ethical, and more accountable.
But I need your help to do so.
If we want to make the Federal Accountability Act a reality, if we want to change the way the system works, we have to begin by changing this government.
Join me.
Stand up for clean government. Stand up for accountability.
Stand up for Canada.
Thank you.
God bless Canada.
http://www.conservative.ca/EN/1004/29522 | 1 |
Speeches Speech in Copenhagen: Don't Change the Climate, Change the System 17.Dec.2009 / 09:25 pm / 11 Comments Mr. President; Gentlemen, ladies; Excellencies; Friends, I promise you that I will not speak more than the one who has spoken the most here this afternoon. Allow me an initial comment, which I would have liked to make as part of the previous point that was made by the delegation of Brazil, China, India, Bolivia - we were there asking for the floor, but it was not possible to take it. The representative of Bolivia said - I greet, by the way, comrade President Evo Morales, who is there (Applause), President of the Republic of Bolivia - among other things, the following - I took note here - "The text presented is not democratic, it is not inclusive." I had just arrived and we were sitting down when we heard the President of the previous session, the Minister, say that a document was coming around, but that no one knows. I have asked for the document, we do not yet have it; I don't think anyone knows about that document, Top Secret. Now, certainly the Bolivian comrade said it: "It's not democratic, it's not inclusive." Now, ladies and gentlemen, is that not precisely the reality of this world? Are we ina democratic world? Is the global system inclusive? Can we expect anything democratic, inclusive from the current world system? What we are experiencing on this planet is an imperial dictatorship and from here we continue to denounce it: Down with the imperial dictatorship and long live the peoples, democracy and equality on this planet! (Applause.) What we see here is a reflection of this: exclusion. There is a group of countries that believe they are superior to us in the South, to us in the Third World, to us underdeveloped countries, or as our great friend Eduardo Galeano says, we countries that have been run over as if by a train that has run over us in history. So let's not be surprised by this, let's not be surprised: There is no democracy in the world, and here we are, once again, before powerful evidence of the world imperial dictatorship. Here two young men got on; Fortunately, the law enforcement officers have been decent, some pushing around, and they collaborated, right? There's a lot of people out there, you know; Of course, they don't fit in this room. I have read in the press that there were some arrests, some intense protests there in the streets of Copenhagen, and I want to salute all those people who are out there, the people who are out there.most of them young people (Applause). Of course, they are young people who are concerned, I think rightly, much more than we are, about the future of the world. Most of us here have the Sun at our backs; they have the Sun in front of them and they are very worried. One could say, Mr. President, that a ghost is haunting Copenhagen, paraphrasing Karl Marx, the great Karl Marx. A ghost walks the streets of Copenhagen, and I think that ghost walks silently in this room, walks among us, gets into the corridors, comes out from underneath, goes up. That ghost is a frightful ghost, almost no one wants to name it. Capitalism is the ghost! (Applause); almost no one wants to name it, it is capitalism. There the people roar, out there they are heard. I had been reading some of the slogans that are in the painted streets, and I think that I heard some of these young people's slogans when the young man and woman were there. There are two that I took note of, you hear, among others, two powerful slogans: One: "Don't change the climate, change the system" (Applause), and I take it for ourselves: Let's not change the climate, let's change the system and, consequently, we will begin to change the system.save the planet. Capitalism, the destructive development model that is ending life, threatens to definitively end the human species. The other slogan calls for reflection, very much in tune with the banking crisis that swept the world and still hits it, and the way in which the countries of the rich North helped the bankers and the big banks; only the United States..., well, the figure was lost, it's astronomical, to save banks. They say in the streets: "If the climate were a bank, they would have saved it by now," and I think it's true. If the climate were a capitalist bank, one of the largest, it would have been saved by rich governments. I don't think Obama has arrived, he received the Nobel Peace Prize almost on the same day that he sent 30,000 more soldiers to kill innocents in Afghanistan, and now the President of the United States comes to present himself here with the Nobel Peace Prize. The United States has the little machine to make banknotes, to make dollars and it has saved..., well, they think they have saved the banks and the capitalist system. Well, this, comment aside, that I wanted to do it there, because we were raising thehand to accompany Brazil, India, Bolivia, China in their interesting position, which Venezuela and the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance firmly share; but, well, they didn't give us the floor, so don't tell me about these minutes, please, Mr. President, that's what they were for. Well, look, that's where I had the pleasure of meeting this French writer, Hervé Kempf. I recommend this book, I recommend it, you can get it in Spanish -there is Hervé-, also in French, in English surely, How the Rich Destroy the Planet, by Hervé Kempf. That's why Christ said it, "It will be easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." Christ our Lord said that (Applause). The rich are destroying the planet. Could it be that they plan to go to another when they destroy this one, will they have plans to go to another planet? So far, none are seen on the galaxy's horizon. As soon as this book has reached me – it was given to me by Ignacio Ramonet, who is also there in this room – and at the end of the prologue or the preamble this sentence is very important. Kempf says the following: "We will not be able toreduce material consumption at a global level if we do not make the powerful go down several steps, and if we do not combat inequality; It is necessary that we add to the ecological principle, so useful when it comes to becoming aware: think globally and act locally, the principle that imposes the situation: consume less and distribute better." I think this is good advice given to us by this French writer Hervé Kempf. Well, Mr. President, climate change is, without a doubt, the most devastating environmental problem of this century: floods, droughts, severe storms, hurricanes, melting ice, rising average sea levels, ocean acidification and heat waves, all of which exacerbate the impact of the global crises that hit us. Current human activity exceeds the thresholds of sustainability, endangering life on the planet; but in this we are also profoundly unequal, I would like to remind you. The richest 500 million people, half a billion!, that is 7%, seven percent!, seven percent of the world's population. That 7% is responsible, those 500 million richest people are responsible for 50% of polluting emissions, while the poorest 50% are responsible for only 7% of emissionspollutants. That's why it strikes me, it's a bit strange to call the United States and China on the same level here. The United States will reach 300 million inhabitants; China has almost five times the population of the United States. The United States consumes more than 20 million barrels of oil per day; China barely reaches 5 or 6 million barrels per day. You cannot ask the same of the United States and China. These are issues that must be discussed. I wish we heads of state and government could sit down and discuss these issues truly, truly. Then, Mr. President, 60% of the planet's ecosystems are damaged, 20% of the earth's crust is degraded. We have witnessed impassive deforestation, land conversion, desertification, alterations of freshwater systems, overexploitation of marine resources, pollution and loss of biological diversity. The exacerbated use of land exceeds the capacity to regenerate it by 30%. The planet is losing the ability to self-regulate, the planet is losing that; Every day, more waste is released than can be processed.The survival of our species hammers into the consciousness of humanity. Despite the urgency, two years of negotiations have passed to conclude a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, and we are attending this meeting without a real and meaningful agreement. And, by the way, with regard to the text that comes out of nowhere - as some described it, the Chinese representative - Venezuela says and the ALBA countries say, the Bolivarian Alliance, that we do not accept, as we already say, any other text than the one that comes from the working groups, the Kyoto Protocol and the Convention. These are the legitimate texts that have been discussed with such intensity in recent years and in these last hours. I think you have not slept; besides the fact that they have not had lunch, they have not slept, eh?, it does not seem logical to me that a document should come out of nowhere, as you say. The scientifically supported objective of reducing the emission of polluting gases and achieving a long-term cooperation agreement, by all accounts, today, at this hour, seems to have failed, for now. What is the reason? We have no doubt, the reason is the irresponsible attitudeand the lack of political will of the most powerful nations on the planet. No one should feel offended, I turn to the great José Gervasio Artigas when he said: "With the truth I neither offend nor fear"; but, in truth, it is an irresponsible attitude, of countermarches, of exclusion, of an elite management of a problem that belongs to all of us and that only we can solve. The political conservatism and selfishness of the large consumers of the richest countries denote a high level of insensitivity and lack of solidarity with the poorest, with the hungry, with those most vulnerable to diseases and natural disasters. Mr President, it is essential to have a new and unique agreement applicable to parties that are absolutely unequal, because of the magnitude of their contributions and economic, financial and technological capacities, and which is based on unrestricted respect for the principles contained in the Convention. Developed countries should establish binding, clear and concrete commitments to substantially reduce their emissions and assume obligations of financial and technological assistance to poor countries, to face the destructive dangers of climate change. In this sense, the uniqueness of island states and less developed countries should befully recognized. Mr President, climate change is not the only problem affecting humanity today; other scourges and injustices lie in wait for us, the gap that separates rich and poor countries has not stopped growing, despite all the Millennium Goals, the Monterrey Summit on financing, all those summits - as the President of Senegal said here, denouncing a great truth, promises and promises and unfulfilled promises, and the world continues its destructive march. The total income of the world's 500 richest individuals is higher than the income of the poorest 416 million people. The 2.8 billion people who live in poverty, on less than two dollars a day, and who represent 40% of the global population, that forty percent of the global population!, get only 5% of the world's income. Today, about 9.2 million children die each year before reaching the fifth year of life, and 99.9% of these deaths occur in the poorest countries. Infant mortality is 47 deaths per 1,000 live births; but it is only 5 per 1,000 in rich countries. TheLife expectancy on the planet is 67 years, in rich countries it is 79, while in some poor nations it is only 40 years. In addition, there are 1,100 million inhabitants without access to drinking water; 2,600 million without sanitation service; more than 800 million illiterate people and 1 020 million hungry people. That is the scenario of the world. Now, the cause, what's the cause? Let's talk about the cause, let's not evade responsibility, let's not evade the depth of this problem. The cause, without a doubt – I return to the subject – of all this disastrous panorama is the metabolic system, destructive of capital and its embodied model: capitalism. Here is a quote that I want to read to you, briefly, from that great theologian of Liberation, Leonardo Boff, as we know, Brazilian, our American. Leonardo Boff says, on this subject, the following: "What is the cause? Ah, the cause is the dream of seeking happiness through material accumulation and endless progress, using science and technology, with which all the resources of the Earth can be exploited in an unlimited way", and quotes Charles Darwin and his natural selection, thesurvival of the strongest; but we know that the strongest survive on the ashes of the weakest. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, it must always be remembered, said that: "Between the strong and the weak, freedom oppresses." That is why the empire speaks of freedom, it is the freedom to oppress, to invade, to murder, to annihilate, to exploit, that is its freedom. And Rousseau adds the saving phrase: "Only the law liberates." There are some countries that are playing at the fact that there is no document here, because they do not want a law, they do not want a norm, because the non-existence of that norm allows them to play their exploitative freedom, their overwhelming freedom. Let's make an effort and pressure, here and in the streets, so that a compromise comes out here, a document that commits the most powerful countries on Earth! (Applause.) Leonardo Boff wonders, President, "Have you met him, Boff?" I don't know if Leonardo could have come, I met him recently in Paraguay; we have always read it: "Can a finite Earth support an infinite project?" The thesis of capitalism: infinite developmentalism is a destructive model, let's face it. Then Boff asks us: "What could we expect from Copenhagen?" It's hardly simpleConfession: As we are we cannot continue, and a simple purpose: Are we going to change course? Let's do it, but without cynicism, without lies, without double agendas, without documents that came out of nowhere, with the truth in front of us. How long, we ask ourselves from Venezuela, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, how long are we going to allow such injustices and inequalities? How long are we going to tolerate the current international economic order and the current market mechanisms? How long are we going to allow major epidemics like HIV/AIDS to wipe out entire populations? How long are we going to allow the hungry to be unable to feed themselves or their own children? How long are we going to allow millions of children to continue dying from curable diseases? How long are we going to allow armed conflicts that massacre millions of innocent human beings, in order for the powerful to appropriate the resources of other peoples? Cease aggression and wars, the peoples of the world ask the empires, those who intend to continue dominating the world and exploiting us! No more imperial military bases or coups d'état! Let's build a more just and equitable economic and social order. Let's eradicate poverty. Let's immediately stop high levels of emissions, let's stopenvironmental deterioration and avoid the great catastrophe of climate change. Let us join the noble goal of being all freer and more supportive! Mr. President, almost two centuries ago a universal Venezuelan, liberator of nations and precursor of conscience, left for posterity an apothegm full of will: "If nature opposes us, we will fight against it and make it obey us." It was Simón Bolívar, the liberator. From Bolivarian Venezuela, where on a day like today, by the way, exactly 10 years ago we experienced the greatest climate tragedy in our history, the Vargas tragedy, as it is called; from that Venezuela whose revolution tries to conquer justice for all its people, only possible by the path of socialism... Socialism, the other ghost that Karl Marx spoke of, that one is also around; rather it is like a counterghost. Socialism, that is the course, that is the course for the salvation of the planet, I have no doubt. And capitalism is the road to hell, to the destruction of the world. Socialism, from that Venezuela that therefore faces the threats of the North American empire, from the countries that make up ALBA, the Bolivarian Alliance, we exhort, I want, with respect,but from my soul to exhort, in the name of many on this planet, the governments and peoples of the Earth, paraphrasing Simón Bolívar, The Liberator: if the destructive nature of capitalism is opposed, then let us fight against it and make it obey us, let us not wait with folded arms for the death of humanity. History calls us to unity and struggle. If capitalism resists, we are obliged to fight against capitalism and to open the paths of salvation for the human species. It is up to us, raising the banners of Christ, of Mohammed, of equality, of love, of justice, of humanism, of true and deepest humanism. If we didn't, the most wonderful creation in the universe, the human being, would disappear, it would disappear! This planet is billions of years old, and this planet lived billions of years without us, the human species; that is, he does not need us for him to exist. Now, we do not live without the Earth, and we are destroying Pachamama, as Evo says, as our aboriginal brothers and sisters in South America say. Finally, Mr. President, in closing, let us listen to Fidel Castrowhen he said: "One species is in danger of extinction: man." Listen to Rosa Luxemburg when she said: "Socialism or barbarism." Let us listen to Christ, the Redeemer, when he said, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs shall be the kingdom of heaven." Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let us be able to make this earth not the tomb of humanity, let us make this earth a heaven, a heaven of life, peace and brotherhood for all humanity, for the human species. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much and enjoy your meal (Applause). http://www.chavez.org.ve/temas/discursos/discurso-copenhague-no-cambien-clima-cambien-sistema-2/ | 2 |
SPEECH BY RAFAEL CORREA – Campaign speech in Quito [Transcription by Rebeca and Dave Coon in July 2007] Thank you for being here. That shows the hope of an entire people, we are all a proud and sovereign homeland comrades! This is a new way of doing politics: cheerful, hopeful, without buying people. Thank you to the people who have come from all corners of the country. This is an excited people. A hopeful people that has said enough; enough to the same as always; enough for the traitors of the homeland. Let's build that new homeland that we all dream of and deserve, fellow compatriots. (Musical propaganda). We are common created like you – people who have been in everyday life, many anonymous heroes, like the mothers of families who miraculously fill the pot every day to feed their children. We have been ordinary people, ordinary people, everyday people, but we have said enough with good times. Enough as they have left us without a country. So much destruction is enough and that is why, my dear friends, we have organized this alliance of the country – this proud and sovereign homeland. This is a project foryoung people with joy and hope, because in this country, my friends, it needs a great revolution in democracy, but revolution! We must rebuild the homeland; That is why we are here, that is why we are all together, that is why we are inaugurating this headquarters – which is going to be the headquarters of all of us. We are not preparing for one person's victory. We are not preparing for the victory of a group. We are preparing the victory of an entire people. If you are not the ones who take the reins of this country, who will? They would be accomplices in the tragedy of our homeland. If we do not say here, present young people, present young people, present youth. Present, we have to take the future of our country into our hands. We are going to fight all together compañeros. What does 2006 postulate to be the birth of a new homeland and what homeland do we want? – a haughty and sovereign homeland. They have robbed us of even our dignity. They treat us like dogs. Remember when I was Minister of Economy for reforming the Perigré law [sp??] At the World Bank and he did not give us the one hundred million that they had already decreed for the country– a vulgar extortion of international bureaucrats who speak English and therefore believe themselves untouchable. Remember how they tell us: sign the FTA or we will take away the tariff preferences; that tariff preferences are the compensations for the fight against drugs. We spend money on the fight against drugs and more children die from diarrhea than from drugs. That is not our problem; The problem is the gringo Ecuadorian brothers and sisters. Enough of the sellouts. Fight to the death against corruption! They are taking the country away from us in pesos and some are still talking about privatization. Here we have to deprivatize customs, deprivatize PACIFITEL, deprivatize DINATEL, deprivatize Petro-Ecuador, because they are in the hands of mafias linked to political parties, linked to those hungry dogs who own the country. Enough of them taking our homeland in pesos. (Cheers for the audience). With a country that has denied the future to the majority of its citizens. Our people have swallowed it – this beloved homeland. No one leaves their homeland of their own free will and on this day, this afternoon, in this emblematic place of Quito and of the homeland, let us remember with deep affection, withDeep gratitude, to those heroes who have gone out to the homeland and by taking any risk, even of their own lives, they try to earn a decent living in other latitudes. I am referring to our immigrant brothers and sisters, dear comrades – greetings from here to all of them. We always carry them in our hearts! (Cheer for the audience). It is really necessary to recreate the state. The state no longer gives this political revolution and at least in two axes. First, we must go to a participatory democracy where the common citizen, the everyday citizen has voice and vote, participation in decisions. That representative democracy that dominated the world in the last two centuries is no longer enough. The citizens, not only of Ecuador, the citizens of Latin America and the world no longer want to elect someone to follow them. They want to decide for themselves. They want to be held accountable. They want their leaders to be in front of them, answering questions, explaining, absorbing concerns. For that, dear comrades, a national constituent assembly is needed that improves. Democracy, my dear comrades, is not about electing any impostor who, once elected, betrays everythingWhat he said in the campaign, and we have to endure the four years in the name of democracy, would at most be in the name of elections. Democracy is that you, brothers and sisters, the Ecuadorian people, the sovereign, the principal, through the ballot box, deliver a mandate, an order, to the president, the president, the one who receives a mandate. If that president betrays the mandate, he has to go home. If we deceive, if we betray, compañeros, you know well. Those who know us know that this will never happen, but assuming that it could happen. If we betray. Drag us out! Kick us out! Throw us away! That is democracy. (Propaganda music with applause). The centralist state does not give more, ask the provinces that are here. How do they feel? It is now necessary to go to an aggressive process of decentralization, deconcentration and correct autonomies. That improves the quality of public administration. It takes advantage of one of the few successful experiences we have had in recent years, which are local governments, and even, compañeros and compañeras, it improves the quality of democracy. Of course, beware of those deranged people who talk about independence, separatism. Here we are all going to have Maradi, Esmeralda or Arias as our first name,and Chincha, Azuay, Cañar, but as a second surname Ecuador. Never forget that. Latin America, the liberating dream cannot be just another dream. From the moment that Latin America, as is inevitable – fulfills Bolívar's dream – we are going to have to explain to our children, to our grandchildren, not why we unite, not why we integrate. We are simply going to have to explain to you why we took so long, compatriots... (Applause from the audience) Comrades have robbed us of many things. We cannot allow them to rob us of hope. The moment we lose hope, we are going to be more victims of the executioners; We are going to leave the homeland in the hands of the same people as always. We cannot afford that – let us regain hope. Let's believe again: not in Rafael Correa, not in the country's alliance. Let's believe in each one of us again. This wonderful people of good people, deserves a better destiny – the greatest wealth of a country my dear friends and especially young people. Listen. The greatest wealth of a country is not oil, it is not its seas, it is not its lands. We are each ofwe with determined people, with united people. The future is in our hands. Here, we begin to build the new homeland. Here, we begin to build our future. We are all country. We are all a haughty and sovereign homeland. (Candidate speaks Indian language) ... but all together... (Candidate speaks Indian language) ... We will have that new homeland. Until victory always my dear brothers and sisters! God bless you. (Music, propaganda and applause for the closing of the speech) | 2 |
Sunday, 29 November 2009 22:54 Speech by President Mauricio Funes at the First Plenary Session of the XIX Heads of State and Government, Ladies and Gentlemen. First of all, I would like to thank once again the Government of Portugal for its hospitality and diligence in organizing this XIX Ibero-American Summit. At the same time, we express our support for the government of the Argentine Republic for the organization of the next Summit, to be held in that sister country. Greetings to the government and people of Uruguay for holding their elections yesterday, which have resulted in Mr. José Mojica, presidential candidate of the Frente Amplio, as the undisputed winner, in an atmosphere of absolute respect for democratic legality. I cannot greet with the same enthusiasm the people of Honduras who also held elections yesterday in the midst of a climate of institutional instability and breakdown of the constitutional order. However, I hope that the new situation created in that country will lead to a process of national dialogue that will conclude as soon as possible in the restoration of democracy and constitutional order. That is the challenge that lies ahead for the candidatethat he be elected so that the international community and especially the countries of Ibero-America can normalize relations with Honduras. It is not a question of recognizing or not recognizing elections, but of stimulating processes that allow the strengthening of democracy. And that is why we are leaning towards a reform of the Democratic Charter of the OAS that leaves no room for doubt about our distance from coups d'état. This new meeting brings together those of us who are united by history and by the future. We are united by ties of origin, language and culture, but also by the conviction that the construction of our future as independent countries will be successful within the Ibero-American community. At this stage when nationalities are giving way to major associations – the European Union clearly realizes this – these conferences serve to cement integration, the only way for the sustainable and equitable development of our region. For this reason, the debate that we are starting today must lead us to define common policies in a matter of great importance to promote the development and well-being of our peoples. Indeed, the great task before us is what we have yesterday,during the inauguration of the Summit, we defined it as the democratization of knowledge. We know that the course that history has taken at this point has led to concentration, in the same way that it has happened with wealth in our societies. A few advanced countries have achieved high levels of development and access to knowledge for their inhabitants, while the majority remain on the margins of this historical progress. My government, which began its journey just 5 months ago, has, from day one, the ambitious objective of changing the course of a country that, according to various studies, is increasingly lagging behind in terms of competitiveness and, therefore, development and well-being. The deterioration of institutions, the lack of strategic public investment and the absence of responsible and long-term State policies have allowed the country to fall more than 30 positions in the ranking prepared by the World Economic Forum in 5 years. Behind these figures lies the urgent need to transform everything from the education system to the efficiency of the institutional bureaucracy. There is no doubt that the challenge is very great, but it is also unpostponable.because, as you know, the rest of the world will not wait for us. Moreover, this fall we are suffering is nothing more than the result of not having undertaken the necessary reforms much earlier, when other countries did. That is why it is one of our priorities for El Salvador to have for the first time a National System of Innovation, Scientific and Technological Development with a policy determined to encourage, above all, the development of our country's human capital. The first step to achieve this objective has been to increase the low national budget allocated to public investment in innovation, quality and technological development. And we do so because we understand that, despite the very hard economic and fiscal situation that our country is going through, we cannot continue to sacrifice long-range policies, those that can change our destiny, to continue giving only short-term responses. In addition, I want to tell you that the change that my government wants to make implies a new perspective of collaboration with those countries that cooperate with the development of El Salvador. It is our objective, and it has already been launched, to establish a clear and frank dialogue with them, through which we will make them participants in ourneeds in priority areas, such as the one we are dealing with today, and in which we hope to count on your help. Recently, at the presentation of the National Culture Award of my country, I recalled the meaning of the word "emerging". He spoke of those countries, of which El Salvador wants to be a part, that grow and carry within themselves the germ of something new. One of those countries that with creativity, understanding this as the answer to the lack of resources, have managed to lift thousands of citizens out of poverty and ignorance. Well, El Salvador is also emerging, we are working to make it so, but it will not be possible if we do not develop our main engine of wealth, our most important capital, which is our people. The great popular majorities and their access to knowledge and innovation will be the focus of our conversations in this forum. And with them at the centre of the debate, we are sure that this summit will be a success. Otherwise, we will follow the path that the economy took in the last two decades and that has led us to a great world crisis: that of the concentration and marginalization of the majority in the world.the decision-making process. That is why the second step that we will take in the first half of next year will be the implementation of a National Scholarship System, aimed at providing study opportunities to our youth and contributing to raising the quality of our human resources. This will allow us to take a third step, the creation of a strategic alliance with the academic sector and the business sectors aimed at linking knowledge with production, in order to respond to two major challenges: climate change and food security. As I said yesterday, at the opening of this XIX Ibero-American Summit, I have faith that we will be able to find the path that will lead us to the democratization of knowledge and the equitable growth of our peoples and countries. Thank you very much for your attention and above all for your willingness so that at the end of our days of reflection we sign a commitment that will change the destiny of our peoples. http://www.presidencia.gob.sv/index.php/novedades/discursos/discursos/item/182-discurso-del-señor-presidente-mauricio-funes-en-la-primera-plenaria-de-sesiones-de-la-xix-cumbre-iberoamericana | 0 |
Name of Chief Executive Hernandez Name of the speech Speech Inauguration of projects in Comayagua Date 2014 Location Comayagua, Hoduras Source (where you found it) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOdsh9z7lFk 00:00 immediately after, words of His Excellency 00:02 Mr. President of the Republic Lawyer 00:04 Conrado Hernández 00:06 Well very good morning to all of you 00:10 to those who are here today in this beautiful 00:12 square of this beautiful place of my 00:16 earth Honduras a special place 00:20 this city of Comayagua the municipality 00:23 of the department grateful sir 00:26 mayor always for your attention 00:29 and for doing an extraordinary job 00:33 for this population I feel proud 00:36 what you do for Comayagua you already know 00:38 that you have a companion to be with you 00:40 supporting there with the deputies the 00:42 governor to be hand in hand 00:50 and tell the Honduran people because I know 00:53 that in this Moment in addition to the media 00:55 that are here today that is touching 00:57 Endure a little sun too 01:00 We have the state channel 01:03 transmitting from Comayagua to all 01:06 Honduras channel 8 but we also have 01:11 h Ch Speak as you speak I congratulate you and I congratulate you 01:17Eduardo Maldonado said a little while ago 01:19 that he congratulated him too because 01:22 he felt a lot for Comayagua good zone 01:24 that is a good sign 01:26 not only good sign of images of the 01:29 channel but also a good sign of 01:31 as he is going to project himself with Comayagua 7 01:33 that get the juice Mr. Mayor and all 01:36 the other mayors of the area and 01:37 deputies governor 01:40 I want to confess that I spent the night in 01:43 Comayagua 01:46 with my wife 01:48 talking with the Minister of Security 01:52 I had the opportunity between yesterday and 01:54 today to see the livestock project more 01:59 advanced in this country 02:01 I have also been able to see crops 02:05 with a specialized treatment and today 02:09 more than ever I am convinced that the 02:12 new scheme of financing to agriculture 02:15 that I want to ask again to the Honduran private bank 02:17 to accompany us with 02:20 that effort plus the other one that goes on 02:24 parallel because we already gathered at 02:26 schools sorry to the universities of 02:29 agriculture together with agribusiness 02:32 together with the government and producers 02:35 to be able to have a02:39 Quality in technical assistance to agriculture 02:41 Now what would be needed is the 02:44 transfer of technology and I am 02:46 I am sure that this country in a short time will 02:49 be a leading country in the production 02:53 of everything that is the 02:54 agri-food part not only of Central America 02:57 but of many regions 02:59 In that sense mayor is an issue that 03:02 we want to work with You at the level of 03:05 corporation and also at the level of 03:07 other mayors of the department 03:11 in the same way I am happy because already 03:15 many schools go several public squares 03:17 as well as this square of 03:20 Comayagua also Tegucigalpa San Pedro' 03:24 Ceiba 03:25 and you do not believe that because he is the president 03:28 of thank you lempira also the parquet of 03:30 thank you lempira is already connected with 03:33 internet so that the people who come at 03:36 these squares particularly here today at 03:38 comayagua tourists can send their 03:40 photos immediately abroad where 03:43 their families are in national territory 03:44 that young people come here and 03:47 do their homework and have access to a 03:50 large number oflibraries that are 03:53 in the world of the internet that have the 03:56 opportunity entrepreneurs the 04:00 microentrepreneurs who are here nearby 04:02 also to make use of that powerful 04:04 tool 04:06 because someone asked the other day and 04:07 why is the internet important is 04:10 very simple 04:11 the tool the present and the future 04:14 not only to study to do 04:17 business 04:19 to move forward 04:21 and we want to That Honduras is a country with 04:24 high standards and that when they come on 04:26 Comayagua visit tourists have the 04:30 knowledge that here we are advancing 04:32 that we are not delayed 04:34 and I do not want it to happen to the children of 04:37 my country what happened to me and until 04:40 25 years old I had the opportunity to see the 04:42 internet and not here in Honduras but 04:45 when I went To get my postgraduate degree to the US 04:48 It was fascinating for me to be seeing 04:51 that which gives me the opportunity to 04:54 connect with the world today 04:58 That tool is going to be in 15,000 05:00 sites throughout Honduras Most of 05:03 educational centers but also public places 05:06Because that progress is for the people to enjoy and use as 05:12 an instrument for improving their 05:14 condition 05:17 also 05:18 We are here today 05:22 because the issue of recovering peace and tranquility in Honduras is fundamental 05:28 and the National Police 05:31 is a vital instrument in achieving that 05:34 objective 05:36 and if some notes some notes some notes 05:40 that I want to share with you today 05:43 here present but also with the 05:45 Honduran people 05:49 these leaders who are graduating today 05:53 trainers of trainers 05:56 in an extremely important policy that 05:59 we have to implement and that is that the 06:01 police work with the citizens to 06:05 identify what are the evils and the 06:07 potentialities that are in each 06:09 community 06:11 one thing is the strong intervention of 06:15 repression of crime but others Things is 06:17 also the empowerment of the 06:19 citizenship and to become a single team 06:22 with the police there is per quadrant that 06:26 the family knows that they can trust the 06:28 police to help them solve their 06:31 problem and that also the police06:33 trust the citizen to solve the 06:35 problem of his community 06:38 this week I was in one of the places 06:42 that some time ago was one of the most dangerous in Honduras 06:46 in Chamelecón 06:48 an intervention has been made extremely 06:51 effective 06:53 Military Police National Police Fusina 06:57 And guess what in 43 days we have not 07:02 had a single homicide 07:05 People are returning to their homes. houses 07:12 people are returning to their homes 07:15 and many of the neighbors told me 07:18 now we have more barbershops here 07:20 we have more grocery stores we leave after 07:22 at six in the afternoon we talk 07:24 we share 07:26 asia and come on Honduras is changing and 07:29 we have to continue making that effort 07:32 and places that have been healthy like 07:36 there is water have to continue to be 07:39 places of freedom of peace and that 07:43 we are going to achieve together as he said on 07:45 Mr. Mayor my applause to the police 07:48 national my thanks to the 07:50 Colombian brothers Mr. Ambassador 07:53 members of the Colombian Police 07:56 you went through perhaps more than a decade 07:59Fighting 08:02 Losing many lives but today I am 08:05 You are an example to the world of how 08:08 This fight can be won and that you are 08:11 You here in Honduras means a lot 08:13 To us That is why I am going to accompany the 08:18 President Santos this coming week at 08:21 his inauguration of his second 08:22 mandate in gratitude of the people 08:25 Honduran to all the support that you 08:27 are giving us giving and I know that they are going to give us at 08:29 continue to give a round of applause to the people 08:31 Colombian to their police to the ambassador at 08:34 president Santo for all his support 08:39 and mayor we are going to invite the president 08:41 Santos also who is another great friend of 08:43 Honduras and if you allow me 08:45 I will also bring him here as 08:47 we bring Peña Nieto so that you know 08:50 the beauties of Honduras and Comayagua | 0 |
VK speech in the European Parliament February 19, 2009 Speech by Václav Klaus in the European Parliament Václav Klaus, European Parliament, February 19, 2009 Full text of the speech delivered by Czech President Václav Klaus on February 19 in the European Parliament. Mr President, honourable Members, I would like to begin by thanking you for the opportunity to speak in the European Parliament, one of the key institutions of the European Union. I have been here several times, but I have never had the opportunity to speak in plenary. Therefore, I appreciate today's opportunity. The elected representatives of 27 countries with a very diverse range of political opinions and attitudes are a unique audience, just as the European Union itself has been a unique and essentially revolutionary experiment for more than half a century in its attempt to make decision-making in Europe better by moving a significant part of it from individual states to pan-European institutions. I come here from the capital of the Czech Republic, from Prague, from the historical centre of Czech statehood, from one of the important places of development of European thought, European culture, European civilisation. I come to you as a representative of the Czech state, which in its various transformations has always been a part of European history, a state that has many times participated directly and significantly in its formation and which wants to participate in iteven today. The last time a Czech president spoke to you from this place was nine years ago. It was my predecessor in office, Václav Havel, and it was four years before our accession to the European Union. A few weeks ago, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mirek Topolánek, spoke here, this time as Prime Minister of the country holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In his speech, he focused on specific topics based on the priorities of the Czech Presidency and on the current problems that the EU countries are currently facing. This allows me to speak to you on topics that are one level of generality higher, to talk about things that may not at first glance be as dramatic as the ways to solve today's economic crisis, such as the Russian-Ukrainian gas conflict or the situation in Gaza. However, they are - in my opinion - absolutely essential for the development of the European integration project. In less than three months, the Czech Republic will commemorate the fifth anniversary of its accession to the Union. He will commemorate him with dignity. It will be remembered as a country in which, unlike some other new Member States, there is no disappointment from the unfulfilled expectations associated with our membership. This is no surprise and has a rational interpretation. Our expectations were realistic. Well weThey knew that we were entering a community created and shaped by people, not some ideal structure built without authentic human interests, visions, opinions, ideas. Interests, as well as ideas, can be found at every step in the European Union, and it cannot be otherwise. On the one hand, we interpreted our accession to the Union as an external confirmation that we had become a standard European country again relatively quickly, in less than fifteen years since the fall of communism. On the other hand, we considered (and still consider today) the possibility of our active participation in the European integration process to be an opportunity to take advantage of the advantages of an already highly integrated Europe and at the same time to co-create this process according to our ideas. We feel our share of responsibility for developments in the European Union, and it is with this in mind that we approach our Presidency of the Council of the European Union. I am convinced that the first six weeks of our Presidency will convincingly demonstrate our responsible approach. In this forum, too, I would like to repeat very clearly and loudly - for those of you who either do not know or do not want to know - my conviction that there was and is no alternative for us to join the European Union, and that there is no relevant political force in our country that could or would want to cast doubt on this statement. That's why we are uncomfortableare affected by the recently intensifying and multiplying attacks on our address, which are based on the unfounded assumption that Czechs are looking for a different integration grouping than the one they became members of five years ago. This is not the case. The citizens of the Czech Republic assume that European integration has a necessary and important mission. They understand it - with a certain generalization - in the following way: - it is the removal of unnecessary and counterproductive barriers to the movement of people, goods and services, ideas, political philosophies, worldviews, cultural schemes, patterns of behaviour that have been formed in the course of history for various reasons between individual European states; - and it is a joint care for public goods existing at the continental level, i.e. for such projects that cannot be effectively implemented on the basis of bilateral negotiations between two (or several) neighbouring European countries. The effort to implement these two goals - the removal of barriers and the rational choice of what should be addressed at the level of the whole continent - is not and will never be finished. Various barriers and obstacles still persist and decision-making at the level of Brussels is certainly more than would be optimal. There is certainly more of it than people living in individual European countries demand. You are certainly aware of this, ladies and gentlemenand so do you. Therefore, as a rhetorical question, I ask whether you are sure - in each of your votes - that you are deciding on a matter that must be decided in this very hall and not closer to the citizen, that is, within the individual European states? In the politically correct rhetoric of today, some other possible effects of European integration are also mentioned, but they are rather secondary and substitute. Moreover, these are the ambitions of professional politicians and people associated with them rather than the interests of normal citizens of the Member States. If I said that membership in the European Union had no alternative for us, that is only half of what needs to be said. The other half is the completely logical claim that the methods and forms of European integration have, on the contrary, a number of possible and legitimate variants, just as they have had them throughout the last half-century. History does not end. To consider the status quo, the institutional arrangement of the EU existing today, as a dogma that cannot be criticized forever, is a mistake that is unfortunately becoming more and more widespread, although it is in complete contradiction both with rational thinking and with the entire history of the development of European civilization, which has lasted more than two millennia. The same mistake is the a priori postulated, and therefore equally uncriticizable, assumption about the only possible and correct future for the development of the European Union, which is the "ever-closer Union",in other words, progress towards ever deeper political integration of the member states. Neither the existing state of affairs nor the postulate of the indisputable benefits of continuous deepening of integration for any European democrat are unquestionable, or should be. Their enforcement by those who consider themselves - to use the famous Czech writer Milan Kundera - to be the "owners of the keys" of European integration cannot be accepted. Moreover, it is clear that this or that institutional set-up of the European Union is not an end in itself, but a means to achieve real ends. These are nothing other than human freedom and an economic arrangement that brings prosperity. That is the market economy. This is certainly what the citizens of all member states want, but in the twenty years since the fall of communism, I have repeatedly been convinced that those who experienced a lack of freedom for a large part of the twentieth century and struggled with a dysfunctional centrally planned, state-organized economy are more likely to wish for it and are more worried about it. These people are - quite naturally - more sensitive and perceptive to any phenomena and tendencies that lead elsewhere than to freedom and prosperity. Citizens of the Czech Republic are among them. Today's system of decision-making in the European Union is something different from the classic parliamentary democracy that has been tried and tested by history. In the usual parliamentary system, part of thesupporting the government and part of the opposition, but that is not the case in the European Parliament. Only one alternative is promoted here, and anyone who considers another alternative is considered an opponent of European integration. In our part of Europe, not long ago, we lived in a political system where any alternative was inadmissible and where there was therefore no parliamentary opposition. We have gained the bitter experience that where there is no opposition, freedom is lost. So there must be political alternatives. And not only that. The relationship between a citizen of a certain member state and a representative of the Union is not a standard relationship between a voter and the politician who represents him. Moreover, there is a distance between citizens and representatives of the Union (and not only in the geographical sense of the word), which is significantly greater than within individual member states. It is referred to by various terms - democratic deficit, loss of democratic accountability, decision-making by the unelected but chosen, bureaucratization of decision-making, etc. Proposals to change the current state of affairs - contained in the rejected European Constitution or in the Lisbon Treaty, which is in fact little different from it - would increase this defect even more. In the absence of a European demos - a European people - the solution to this defect is not even the eventual strengthening of the role of the European Parliament. This, on the contrary, would intensify this problem and lead to an even greater feeling of alienation of European citizens from EU institutions. SolutionThere is neither heating under the "melting pot" of the existing type of European integration, nor suppressing the role of the Member States under the slogan of a new multicultural and multinational European civil society. These are attempts that have always failed in the past, because they were not a manifestation of natural historical development. I am afraid that attempts to further accelerate and deepen integration and to move decision-making on the living conditions of the citizens of the Member States to an ever greater extent to the European level may jeopardize all the positive things that have been achieved in Europe over the last half-century. Therefore, let us not underestimate the concerns of the citizens of many Member States that their affairs are once again being decided elsewhere and without them, and that their ability to influence these decisions is very limited. The European Union has so far owed its success to the fact that the opinion and votes of each member state had equal weight in the vote and could not be ignored. Let us not allow a situation to arise in which the citizens of the Member States would live with the resigned feeling that the European Union project is not theirs, that it is developing differently than they wish, and that they are only forced to submit to it. Very easily and very quickly, we would find ourselves back in times that we used to say belong to the past for a long time. This is closely related to the issue of prosperity. It is necessary to openlyIt can be said that today's EU economic system is a system of suppressed markets and continuous strengthening of central economic management. Although history has more than sufficiently shown us that this is not the way to go, we are going in this direction again today. The degree of limitation of the spontaneity of market processes and the degree of political regimentation are constantly increasing. This development in recent months has also been contributed to by the erroneous interpretation of the causes of today's financial and economic crisis as if it were caused by the market, while the real cause is the exact opposite - it was caused by political manipulation of the market. Once again, it is necessary to recall the historical experience of our part of Europe and the lessons we have learned from this experience. Many of you know the name of the French economist Frederick Bastiat and his famous Petition of the Candlemakers, which has become a well-known and now canonical textbook showing the absurdity of political interference in the economy. On November 14, 2008, the European Commission heeded a real, not Bastiat's, fictitious petition by candle manufacturers and imposed a 66 percent tariff on candles imported from China. I wouldn't have believed that a 160-year-old literary essay could become a reality, but it is. A necessary consequence of the large-scale implementation of such measures is the economic lagging of Europe and the slowdown, if not even stopping, of economic growth. The solution lies only in the liberalisation and deregulation of the European economy. All this I say froma sense of responsibility for Europe's democratic and prosperous future. I am trying to remind you of the basic principles on which European civilization has been built for centuries or millennia. Principles whose validity is timeless and universal, and which should therefore also apply in today's European Union. I am convinced that the citizens of the individual Member States want freedom, democracy and economic prosperity. Perhaps the most important thing for the moment is the demand that free discussion of these matters should not be seen as an attack on the very idea of European integration. I have always thought that being allowed to discuss these serious issues, to be heard, to defend everyone's space to present something other than the "only correct opinion" - even if we disagree with it - is precisely the democracy that has been denied to us for four decades. We, who have verified through the involuntary experience of most of our lives that the free exchange of opinions and ideas are a basic condition for a healthy democracy, believe that this condition will be honored and respected in the future. It is an opportunity and an irreplaceable method of making the European Union freer, more democratic and more prosperous. By Václav Klaus, European Parliament, February 19, 2009 | 2 |
SPEECH BY PRIME MINISTER DUŠKO MARKOVIĆ AT THE RECEPTION ON THE OCCASION OF THE 11TH ANNIVERSARY OF MONTENEGRO'S INDEPENDENCE Podgorica, Villa "Gorica", Friday, May 19, 2017 President of the State, Speaker of the National Assembly, Dear guests, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear citizens of Montenegro: Happy Jubilee, Happy Independence Day! At the very beginning, let me remind you of the words of the leader of the movement for the restoration of independence and the then Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, spoken a year ago, when we marked the tenth anniversary of the new Montenegro: The independence of Montenegro is our greatest obligation! I believe that every May 21 is a date when we must remind ourselves of this greatest, sacred obligation of every Montenegrin and every citizen of Montenegro. There are people and people who don't have to do that. Because of their size, because of their strength and power, because of their eternal durability – this right was given to them, once and for all. Montenegro and Montenegrins are not in this group of countries and peoples. Since they have existed, they have paid the most expensive price for this natural right – to be on their own, to decide for themselves how they will live. And so – for centuries: one straw among the whirlwinds. We must not forget that! History teaches us that Law and Justice have sometimes faltered in the face of the pragmatics of politics and the logic of the interests of the great and powerful. We must notto forget what a terrible price we paid a century ago. At the table of the Paris Peace Conference, even though Law and Justice, both the victim and the suffering, were on our side – they erased both our state and our name. We were not at that table. It took almost a century for May 21 to dawn; That the international community recognize Montenegro's right to dispose of itself sovereignly as an independent state. This was possible in 2006 because "honour and freedom are two goods that the Montenegrin people have managed to preserve for centuries at the cost of the heaviest victims". At the end of the First World War, when King Nicholas was saying this to the Prime Minister of France – it was not possible. Decades have passed since a generation has grown up that has learned a historical lesson – that without wisdom and patience independence cannot be restored! A generation that understood that the independence of a small country and a weak people was not given once and for all. That the long-term guarantee of independence is an equal place of that country in society and at the table where the great and powerful make decisions. May we never have a repeat of Paris 1919! In the next few days, on June 5, we will get that seat, as the 29th member of the most powerful alliance today: the North Atlantic Alliance.In the next few years, four or at most five – Montenegro will get its place at the table among the members of the European Union. Never again will the fate of our country be decided behind our backs. Once in all, we're going to close this unfortunate page of our history. By doing so, we shall fulfill our greatest and sacred obligation. However, there is still a lot of work ahead of us: To completely arrange our safe, common house according to the highest democratic and economic standards of developed Europe, nurturing the traditional values of Montenegrin society. To build a system that will give everyone an equal chance to succeed; that the laws apply equally to all; To provide an opportunity for every citizen and every family to raise the standard of living to a higher level; that young people see a clear perspective for their future in Montenegro; To overcome the inherited and new divisions that are taking away the strength of Montenegrin society... For the first time in history, Montenegro has the opportunity to fully commit to these goals. To unite all potentials. To turn to development with all his strength. To be a leader in the Western Balkans. Let's take advantage of this opportunity. Let us be worthy of the moment and opportunity that has appeared to us. Just like we did on May 21, 2006. That Montenegro is eternal!Page | | 1 |
Speech at the XIV Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement 15.09.2006 http://president.gov.by/images/i.gif Dear Mr. President! Ladies and gentlemen, Our Summit is a meeting of like-minded people, it is a meeting of friends. As friends, we must honestly discuss common problems. As like-minded people, we must, we must work out a common program of action for the coming years. The Non-Aligned Movement, as already mentioned, was created in an era of confrontation between the two superpowers and their ideologies. It arose because developing countries did not agree with the rigid philosophy of the Cold War. A philosophy that assumed only two mutually exclusive paths of development. The Non-Aligned Countries have proved that a third path is possible – the path of diversity of progressive development based on mutual respect, equality and justice. Today, however, the international community is facing the threat of a unipolar world order. One model of development is being imposed on us. Western leaders are convinced that only their countries have the right to write modern history. They use their power to reshape the planet to suit their needs, pursuing only one goal – to subordinate all peoples to their interests, to ensure their own well-being at our expense. Do we want our children and grandchildren to work not for themselves and their own happiness, but for someone else's "uncle"? If not, then let's say it firmly! Let us not allow the diversity of cultures, historical development and progress to be replaced by a standard imposed from outside that is alien to our countries. The Non-Aligned Movement mustto fight for a new world where there is a worthy place for everyone. We need to resolutely defend the right of our peoples to choose an independent path of development. Jointly resist the dictates of external forces, discrimination and military threats. How do we achieve this? Today, we must clearly define the main goal of our Movement. The unipolar world order shows us its inadequacy and lack of viability. Everyone declares this. If we all agree on this, then let's work more actively to form a new, more just world order. This is our main goal. To achieve it, a clear program of action is needed for the gradual but irreversible formation of a multipolar world. What, in the opinion of Belarus, should we do? First. The movement should become an independent world center of political power, which is reckoned with on an equal footing by the members of the world community. And I must note that today is the moment that we have no right to miss in order to make our Movement an independent center of political power. Tomorrow may be too late. Second. This requires political will. What is our strength? The answer is obvious – in unity. We need to join political efforts to achieve this strategic goal. Under no circumstances should we allow the moment or the occasion when we will be pulled apart one by one through the embers of our planet or torn to pieces, like Yugoslavia and othersstates, but they will still be dragged there - into the shadows, so that no one will ever see us. Third. It is necessary to revive the principle of solidarity in the Non-Aligned Movement, which is the most important tool for defending the interests of all, especially small and vulnerable states. The movement must resolutely stand up for the political defense of its members who have been subjected to external pressure or aggression. Our position within the framework of the United Nations and other international organizations must be united. The President of Iran, the President of Iran, was right to speak here about our relationship with the United Nations and very rightly reproached the Organization and the Security Council for inaction in the hottest cases of our lives, about which the Secretary-General of the United Nations was so shamefully silent today when speaking here. But at the same time, a question arises for ourselves. Making claims to other organizations, including the UN, demanding more effective work from them, we must ask ourselves the question – how united and effective are we in solving similar issues? After all, recently there has been an intervention against the states that were and are part of the Non-Aligned Movement. And how did we react? Do we, like ostriches, burying our heads in the sand, not want to see what is happening around us? Then the question arises: what kind of organization are we, are we repeating the mistakes thatinherent in the United Nations? Fourth. The Movement must actively promote the formation of new centres of power that will serve as the basis for a multipolar world. The stronger we are, the more important partner we will become in this process, the more significant our contribution will be to the fight against the global challenges of our time. Fifth. It is necessary to vigorously increase economic cooperation between our countries. Make the most of preferences for each other. There are already examples of this. In the end, we will all win. Political unity alone is not enough today. We need a powerful economic component of our Movement. To this end, Belarus proposes to create a Single Bank of Economic Information in the Movement's own news network. It should become an information platform for cooperation projects and an interactive database of the interests and problems of our states. This will make economic contacts more fruitful and purposeful. Together, we must and can overcome the information monopoly of the West. In this regard, I want to say the following. There was a lot of talk here about the North and the South. Belarus is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, but geographically it is among the Nordic states that the Movement does not like. We were once part of the Soviet Union, an intellectual, brain part of the USSR. We still have this economy, and we can share these technologies with any of the member states of the Non-Aligned Movement. You have a lot –financial resources, resources from God or from Allah, you have all this. Let's unite and not wait until the rich states of the same North divide us and separate us one by one. Today we have in this hall representatives of states that have both human and natural potential, both financial and intellectual potential, and have the highest technologies. Let us, before rich states come to us from the north and are not subordinated to their will, let us figure it out and start active economic cooperation. Without it, neither politics nor diplomacy is possible. Sixth. It is in our power to make the United Nations more effective. It must serve the interests of all States, not just the United States of America. Together, we can prevent the Organization from being used as a tool for "showdowns" with countries pursuing independent policies. In the future, with our countries. Do we not see this danger? See. So why don't we act? Much has been said here about the Programme of Action of the Non-Aligned Movement. I have also named several elements on behalf of the leadership of my country, but I want to say that these are absolutely not exhaustive measures of this Program. I do not even pretend that these are the main events of our future Programme, no. But the fact that these measures must be carried out within the framework of our future activities -This is an indisputable fact. Without them, without these measures, we will not be able to do what the President of Iran has just said, and he was very right to say. This is what we think we are capable of today, what we can do. Dear Mr. Chairman, It is unity and the proposed practical actions that will allow our Movement to implement important and necessary projects that have long been on the agenda: to get closer to the elimination of illiteracy, to raise health care to a new level, to create economic incentives and opportunities. And ultimately, to improve people's lives. All the prerequisites for this are in place today. I have already said that in this room, some countries have natural resources, others have financial resources, others have the necessary human potential, and still others have experience and technology. By combining our efforts, we will be able to solve these problems. Mr. President, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Malaysia for its three-year chairmanship and wish the new Chairman, Cuba, success in further strengthening our Movement. I want to emphasize once again: my country is located in the north of our planet, in the center of Europe, but you can always count on our understanding, on our support and on our actions in your interests. Thank you for your attention. http://president.gov.by/press43750.html#docv | 2 |
Country: India
Leader: Narendra Modi
Type: Campaign
Name of the speech: Varanasi rally speech
Date: Dec 20, 2013
Source:
Bharat Mata ki. Present on the stage National President of Bhartiya Janata Party and the son of this soil Sri Rajnath Singh Ji, our guide and senior party leader, respected Murali Manohar Joshi Ji, Uttar Pradesh BJP Sriman Laxmikant Vajpayee Ji, Sri Kalaraj Mishra Ji, senior leader respected Sri Kalyan Singh Ji, Sri Om Praksh Singh Ji, Sri Amit Bhai Shah Ji, Rameshwar Chaurasia Ji, Sri Trivendra Ji Rawat, respected Lalji Tandon Ji, Sri Keshari Nath Tripathi Ji, Sri Ramapati Ji, Sri Surya Pratap Ji, all the senior party leaders present on the dais, I welcome all of you who all came from far fringes of Kashi area and I bow to sea of humanity arrived in large numbers here.
I come from the land of Somnath and am here to take blessings of Baba Vishwanath. Brothers and sisters, this is happening perhaps the first time in the history of Indian democracy when there is such an atmosphere much ahead of the elections. Brothers and Sisters, it all happens during the election time. Political parties become more active-politics of allegations and counter allegations-parties tries to expand their political bases. But It is first time that the common man in Hindustan becomes aggressive and keen to uproot the government in Delhi. And I can see - the elections in 2014 will not be fought by any political party or the individual leadership, the elections will be fought by the people of the country--by the every electorate of this nation.
Brothers and Sisters, in the past the and future too - India's description, without Ganga can not be complete. For others Ganga can be a river, but for us it is our mother, not just a river-Our Mother. Ganga isn't mere a flow of water, it depicts our culture. Brothers and sisters, many proposals on cleaning and preserving the Ganga have come up. Crores were spent. I ask you, is the money flowing with the Ganga? The government could have at least stopped the deteriorating water quality of Ganges, with this wealth, but it has been unable to. Those who can't handle Ganga, how will they manage the country.
The UPA govt made a scheme to clean the Ganga with lot enthusiasm. A lot of campaigning was done and people thought something will be done - People have had faith in them and brought them in to power. But my dear brother and sisters from Uttar Pradesh - I wanted to tell the nation from this sacred land of Ganga, that in the last five years no step was taken by the government sitting in Delhi, except holding three meetings.
I request the Central government and the Prime Minister to share detailed accounts with people and answer them on how much were spent on the project to clean Ganga, The Congress has used the Ganga for vote-bank politics since the days of Rajiv Gandhi.
Thousands of crore rupees has been taken out of the treasury - the people of the country demands to know what have you done to restore river Ganga to pristine conditions? When, how and - yes for whom?
Brothers and sisters - you tell me that on the issue of Ganga - in the name of this river the citizens have been made fool of - they have been kept in the dark - they have been cheated. Brothers and sisters should you re-elect such sinners who have fouled up such a pious project?
Speak up - should you elect to government the ones who have played with the sanctity of the Ganges - those who have misled you?
Brothers and sisters don't make this mistake - the Ganga is not polluted only because of pollutants in Uttar Pradesh - actually to cleanse the Ganga you have to clean Delhi - you have to clean Lucknow - then the Ganga will be cleaned. As long as these people are in power there is no chance of cleaning the Ganga. These days people ask me - mostly people who want Congress to survive - so that they can survive. These defenders of Congress ask - Modi ji what shall you do? I shall get things done and show you. And people who ask me what I can do - make time for a day and come to Gujarat - come to the soil of Ahmedabad and stand by the Sabarmati riverfront. The same Sabarmati - the one which has the name of Mahatma Gandhi associated - had become almost like a drain - come today and see - Sabarmati is full to the top with the waters of Narmada.
Brothers and sisters - tell me do you believe that Ganga can be cleaned - if Sabarmati could have been cleaned - couldn't the same be done to Ganga? If Sabarmati can influence life in Gujarat cant the Ganga influence lives in India?
Brothers and sisters we do not make false promises - Brothers and sisters of UP, we do not promise we have made up our mind on action - the land is tired of promises - words and advices - the country wants action. We would like to assure you that we will make good our words.
Brothers and sisters some people think that Uttar Pradesh is crucial to politics of India because without help from UP nobody can come to power - brothers and sisters - such thoughts insult UP - is UP useful only there for adding up numbers - is it useful only to clobber together a government? My thoughts are not that limited - it's not the question of governments - if you want stability in India - it cannot happen without a stable UP. If India is to develop - UP must be developed too - if you have to root out unemployment from India you cannot do it without rooting out unemployment in UP. If India is hungry - it is UP that appeased that hunger. We must not associate UP only with the number of MPs it sends - UP can become the destiny changer for India (Bhagya Vidhata) - UP can attain heights of development and be an example for India. As such for the BJP- UP is not a political playground - for us, UP is the ground where the story of India's future can be scripted.
Brothers and sisters I have a firm belief in the strength of the people of this place -It is people for this land that once dreamt of Ram Rajya . If people are not skilled, how would Ram Rajya be possible? The ability, tradition and culture to usher in Ram Rajya was - and is exists in the people of UP. You have a proud history - so what is the trouble? The trouble is that you have not elected the right government and leader. If you choose the right leader then I firmly believe that you have it in you to act as the engine of development in the country.
Brothers and sisters The farmers of UP - alone - can - like they did when Lal Bahadur Shastri coined 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan'- filled the food bowls of India - farmers from UP - can single handedly feed the whole of Europe. But look at the state of things - leaders and government - the farmers who once fed India doesn't have enough on his plate. The farmer - producing rice - will feed some poor - farmer ploughs his field to feed all - even animals and birds. But brothers and sisters when farmers come to know that his rice and whet are getting spoiled on railway platforms - it hurts their feelings. A farmer's real pleasure is in knowing that his labour had fed hungry mouths. This is something the government in Delhi can't seem to realise. The Supreme Court orders disbursement of grains amongst poor but the government refuses to comply but sell it in subsidized rates to liquor manufacturers. Doesn't it hurt the feelings of our farmers? I am flabbergasted can any government act like this? This is an insult to our agrarians and farmers and a cruel joke on the plight of the poor.
Brothers and sisters elections come and they start preparing - you know there are some students whose faith increases proportionately as exams approach - the Congress acts similarly - as soon as election comes - the poor come into focus. If they had some real love and respect for the poor - some sympathy for them then this would not have been the state of affairs for the poor of the country. Some forty five years power has been centered around a single family - they are responsible for the state of the poor.
Brothers and sisters - I don't have to travel somewhere to see poverty - my childhood was spent in poverty. I am stunned at the amount of contempt they have for the poor in their mind - one UPA leader even said that a tea vendor cannot become the PM of India. Tell me is vending tea - a crime - is standing up on your own two feet - being self sufficient - is it a crime - a sin - a taint? I am flabbergasted - these leaders who speak of poor - how can a tea seller become a PM? If the people want then even a labourer can become a PM - a shoeshine boy can become PM too. Based on my own principles let me tell you all - I am proud of selling tea - I haven't sold the country. This is how they make fun of the poor and their poverty. And one of their leaders - well he says - poverty is nothing but a state of mind. When you are unable to light the stove in the evenings and hungry children cry themselves to sleep - then you know poverty - what do they know? Small children work to feed their parents - but they - people who mock the poor. This arrogance of those people who consider poor is in their pockets and the welfare of poor is not going to happen and I want to tell the poor, it will be our first duty to throw away those people who have exploited you till now.
Just now Rajnath Ji was saying that he is pained to hear that leaders from Congress call BJP leader thieves. Congress can say anything. If we collect all that Congress leaders are saying and print it than we will be shocked. Is this their sansakara? Is this the language they use?
But I want to tell Congress leaders, you call us thieves. We accept your allegation. Yes, we are thieves; we have stolen the sleep of the Congress. We have stolen the peace of the Congress. Now we will not let the people sit in peace who have plundered this country since independence.
Brothers and Sisters, I want to ask you, I want to ask elders here who spend their lives with problems - do they want to give this India to your children? Do you want to force your children to live in poverty? Do you want that your children remain unemployed? Do you want to press your children to leave their homes and live in slums of the cities?
Brothers and Sisters, a few days ago a Muslim from here wrote to me. He said - I have to share a problem with you. You are coming to Varanasi, please mention one of our problems in your speech. He wrote that he lives in a Muslim colony and there are small power loom factories producing Silk Sarees. He said, he is unable to sleep in night, problems are there, please find a solution. He expressed his anguish. Brothers and Sisters, this Banarasi Saree not only protects modesty of our women, it also has a potential to save dignity of Indian economy.
Such a big industry, it has a potential to employ lakhs of people but they have destroyed it. The friend who wrote to me may be here in the crowd or listening to my speech on television. Brothers, there's a solution to this problem. Kashi and Surat share old bond. There is hearsay, death in Kashi and food in Surat. Surat too, like Kashi has big power loom industry. At one point in time, if you walk on the roads in Surat, either in the morning or evening, the noise of power loom even subsides the noise of your scooter. Brothers and Sister, we started a campaign and within ten years we technologically upgraded the industry. We established many big industrial complexes outside Surat city. Brothers and Sister, noiseless machines are available in the market these days. Today, due to up gradation of the technology we have been able to improve the quality as well as quantity of the production. Brothers and Sisters, this can be achieved in Varanasi as well. Those who ask me what the vision of Modi is? This is the truth, go and see it for yourself.
Brothers and Sisters, if intentions are noble and I feel if the Saree industry of Varanasi would have been technologically upgraded than it alone could have provided employment to lakhs of youth in the country. They would have had not been forced to leave. But policies of the government are such that they import yarn from China but do not care about the livelihood of Saree manufacturers of Varanasi. Their policies are such that has led to this situation.
Brothers and Sisters, possibly there is no village in the Poorvanchal from where youth are not living in Gujarat. Tell me friends, why this situation came that youths here have to leave their villages, leave their parents? If Uttar Pradesh would have developed they would not have been forced to leave their villages, their homes, their friends, their old parents.
Brothers and Sisters, due to unemployment today youth are staring at a bleak future. He is distressed, where to go, whose hands to hold, who will save him.
Tell me friends, what is the first thing that comes to your mind after seeing job advertisement? The first thing that comes to your mind is recommendation. Didn't you look for recommendation? There isn't guarantee of getting a job without recommendation. There is no possibility of getting a job without paying a bribe. Isn't this dishonesty? Is there solution to this problem or not? I have a solution. Those protectors of the Congress who question about my vision, I wasn't to say them this. Friends, once we had to recruit 13000 teachers in Gujarat. 1-2 lakh applications are normal for such a big recruitment. What we did, we gave an advertisement and registered all the candidates online, and with the help of computer we short listed 13000 candidates with highest marks. I passed the order to recruit them. Brothers, if decisions are made on the basis of merit and there is no interview than this whole issue of corruption and recommendation can be solved. And the right person will get the job. I started this as a pilot project in Gujarat and we got success. No one has raised finger on the process. And I feel every youth, no matter how much he is educated he can't survive on his certificate. He is in constant search for a recommendation.
Brothers and Sisters youth need dignity. He wants to free himself from a life where he has to spread his hands for every need. The youth of my country can change the destiny of India. The government needs to trust the youth and I am here with this trust. I want to tell the youth of this country that there is no dearth of opportunities. Country needs manpower be it in agriculture, manufacturing or service sector. The youth of this country can make India an economic superpower.
My young friends, I am coming with a guarantee of your future. If we cannot guarantee the future of our youth then nothing can be done. Destiny of India is in the hand of her youth. Youth wants opportunity and BJP has come with a resolve to provide opportunity to the youth. Brothers and Sisters, People are uprooting the Congress and electing BJP governments and this is the proof that we have stood up to the expectations of the people.
Brothers and Sisters, I have been visiting various parts of Uttar Pradesh. The massive gathering I am witnessing everywhere gives me trust that the people of the country wants to uproot the government in Delhi. The people don't want to tolerate the government in Delhi. Brothers and Sisters, let's make a resolve to change the destiny of India. Congress free India would have to be created. Congress free India is the only guarantees of poverty free India. Congress free India is the guarantees of unemployment free India. To get rid of poverty, unemployment, starvation deaths, corruption we will have to free India of the Congress party and we are here with that dream.
Bharat Mata Ki Jai. | 2 |
Speech by the President at the opening of the International Engineering Fair in Brno SPEECHES AND SPEECHES, 10/09/2012 Dear representatives of our political and economic spheres, ladies and gentlemen, first of all I would like to greet you all – on the occasion of the opening of this year's International Engineering Fair. The Brno trade fair is one of the most important events held in our country every year and we are all certainly pleased that it still manages to hold the position of the leading European industrial fair. This is evidenced by the composition of exhibitors, this year almost 50% of whom are from abroad, and the traditionally great interest of the public. Thanks to this fair, Brno has become an important trade fair centre in Europe. I have been to the opening of the fair many times, this year is the last time in the role of President of the Republic. The speeches I have made here quite faithfully illustrate the very variable economic development that our country has gone through during this time. Successful economic development, when we achieved high economic growth rates between 2005 and 2007, was replaced by the deepest decline of the Czech economy in its history. After the end of the crisis, it initially seemed that the Czech economy had come out of it relatively well, but the rapid return to high growth values expected by some of our politicians and economists did not materialise. The recovery was very mild and ended quickly, which was too muchsimilar to economic developments in a number of other European countries. Estimates of the development of our economy in future periods have gradually changed from slightly positive to negative numbers in recent weeks and months. Data published a few days ago only confirms this. Gross domestic product decreased by 1% year-on-year in Q2 this year. The data on industrial production in July this year look a little more promising. The information coming from our main trading partners from the European Union countries is not very pleasing either, and weakening foreign demand is starting to take effect. While last year our exports grew at a double-digit rate, this year we have reached only single-digit values. Nevertheless, these statistical numbers must not be seen in isolation, but in the overall context of the current development of Europe and our region. Despite all of the above, we are still one of the most economically stable countries in the European Union. This applies both in terms of the external macroeconomic balance (and our balance of payments shows this) and in terms of domestic macroeconomic indicators such as inflation, the unemployment rate, and the stability and resilience of the banking sector. Our own currency helps us absorb external shocks. In international comparison, developments in public finances are not bad either. Nevertheless, I cannot omit to mention that every time I opened the fair as President of the Republic, I spoke about the necessity of reforming public finances. The task ishas not changed, but its urgency is growing. We still haven't made the necessary systemic changes, especially on the expenditure side of the budget. Raising tax rates will not strengthen our public finances and our economy. Let's dare to reach into mandatory spending. It is at this point that it should be emphasised that industry, and especially engineering, must continue to be a fixed point of our economy. Let's not believe the myths that a sign of maturity is a shift away from engineering and a focus on services or the so-called "knowledge economy". Recent developments in the world confirm that underestimating the importance of engineering and industry in general is a gross mistake. In the recent crisis, those countries that tried to deindustrialize in the past fared worse. The second thing is that the slowdown in the economies of most of our European trading partners – coupled with the debt crisis in the euro area and the underproductive European economic and social model, which is more social than economic – should be a clear signal that we must increasingly look beyond Europe's borders in our foreign trade. For us – as a highly open economy – this is doubly true. The state is not here to determine what to export and where. However, it can help our businesses to approach new markets. That is why, in my position, I took great care to ensure that my foreign trips were not just a courtesy, political visit, but thathad a visible impact on mutual economic relations. I met many of the entrepreneurs present on my foreign trips as members of business delegations who accompanied me on my travels. If I count correctly, there were almost thirty such trips with your accompaniment. In the last year and a half alone, it has been Argentina, Chile, Montenegro, Azerbaijan, Senegal, this year's trip to Turkey and a recent visit to Indonesia and Malaysia with record interest from entrepreneurs. I will try to make another such trip before the end of my mandate. The geographical structure of these visits suggests a lot. These are countries that are not suffering from agony or stagnation, but that are moving forward quickly, countries that have growth potential. In many of them, we have something to build on. In these countries, our engineering products are still valued, but we need to be more active. Opportunities will not wait for us, we need to meet them. I am therefore very pleased that this year's "partner country" of the fair is one of the largest and fastest developing countries in the world – India, from which almost 130 companies came to visit us, and that its delegation is led by the Minister of Industry and Trade Anand Sharma. This is the first time in the five-year history of this project that the partner country is different from our neighbouring country. I am also pleased thatthe so-called "special guest" of the fair is Russia. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like this year's International Engineering Fair to be successful, to create many new contacts that will be transformed into successful and long-term contracts. Our economy needs it. Thank you for your attention. Václav Klaus, Rotunda A, Brno Exhibitions and Trade Fairs, Brno, 10 September 2012 | 1 |
This Sunday is the Day of Action http://www.miniszterelnok.hu/beszed/most_vasarnap_a_cselekves_napja 8 April 2010. Viktor Orbán's speech at the closing event of the Fidesz campaign in Budapest. Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends! Well, this moment has arrived, we have lived this too. Another sixty-two hours, and the moment of truth will come in Hungary. Thank you to everyone who persevered, who did not give up and who believed that it was up to us and that we would stand at the door of this great opportunity. Ladies and Gentlemen, History sometimes behaves quietly, like a slowly flowing stream. Weeks, months, years, everyday struggles, joys, disappointments go by, and you feel that great things don't really happen. They won't. This is the order of life. And it couldn't be any other way. Especially communities that experience far more disappointments, more failures, more hardships, tend to believe that this is their destiny. They struggle in vain, they try to believe in vain, they achieve small partial successes in vain, they feel that there is no prospect of real, penetrating, big change. Then, unexpectedly, there are historical moments when things take a completely different direction. When suddenly, almost overnight, what used to be becomes invalid. Different rules and relationships come into play, meaning that it suddenly condenses into one day, one daycombine eight, ten, twenty or even fifty years of repressed bitterness and hope. And on days like this, great things happen. Things that then change everything. Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends, These are the great days of history. Many generations, almost every generation, dream of experiencing such a moment once, only once. Moreover, if possible, not only experience it, if possible, become a creative part of it. Such a moment can be born by a great discovery, the outbreak of a revolution, the formation or dissolution of an alliance. Such moments can arise from the things that lead multitudes of people, even entire communities, to face fate here and now. Let them judge right and wrong, right and wrong, and then act on their judgment. There have been many such moments in Hungarian history. In past centuries, such was the revolution of 1848 or 1956, and for us the regime change of 1990 was also like this. And now we Hungarians have come to such a day again. To another of the rare great days of history, Hungarian history. We have been waiting for a long time in the midst of nerve-wracking everyday struggles, but I see that this long and often monotonous wait is now coming to an end. If we Hungarians rise to the moment here and now, if we do what is expected of us, then we can rightly expect that the nextIn years, history will finally reward us, that is, we will get from it what we want to receive. Every person expects to finally get something from history. But, dear friends, history can only give to those who, in great moments, are ready to act, to do what history expects of them. One should ask oneself a question at such times. At such a moment, what does his country expect from him. What his family and friends expect from him, what his colleagues expect from him. I also asked myself this question: what does Hungary expect from me, what does my family and friends expect, what do my colleagues expect? The answer is unanimous and simple: action! Everything and everyone expects action from me and expects action from all of us. History has done its part, it has created the long-awaited opportunity, so now it is our turn. It is up to us to act, to judge good and evil, that is, to choose. Ladies and Gentlemen, Now we have to make a choice knowing that on Sunday more will be decided than usual in a simple election. Now, in fact, everything that is important to us is decided. Everything will be decided for which we have worked, fought and fought with great effort for many years. It remains to be seen whether we will remain a country without consequences, or whether we will be able to establish and hold accountable for what happened. It will be decidedwhether it will be good to be Hungarian again in Hungary, or whether the shameful situation from which people continue to drift will remain. It will be decided whether other nations of the world look up to Hungary and Hungarians. It will be decided whether the Hungarian nation of ten or a few million people is still capable of great things. It will be decided whether there will be common national issues for which we will unite, or whether there will remain a policy of private interests that ignores the people. It will be decided whether we return to the main street of history or continue to stumble under the gardens. It will be decided whether our children will be proud of us and proud of what we have done, of being Hungarian. It's all up to us, because now it's our turn. History now expects us to act and judge firmly. Dear Friends! Ladies and Gentlemen, It is up to us to say on Sunday with overwhelming, yes, overwhelming volume that the country has been on the wrong track for the past eight years, because politics has taken it in the wrong direction. Bad people, bad politicians, bad decisions got the country where it is now. It is up to us to say with overwhelming volume: we never want such a policy again! We never want such governance again, we never want such decisions again! This is what history expects of all of us today, young and old, men and women, families and singles, rural and urban, workers and employers, the wealthy and poor.right-wing, center-standing and left-wing. Hungarians must pronounce this verdict with such a loudness that the whole world can hear it. Just as he heard the sound of the world in 1848, 1956 and 1990. It is up to young people to say that they are sick of the policies of recent years, which have closed all doors to them and sent them out of their own countries. It is up to older people to say that they no longer want the policies of recent years, which have taken away from them the security of old age, the respect and esteem they deserve. It is up to entrepreneurs and workers to say that they condemn the anti-business and anti-labour policies of recent years and therefore want radical change. It is up to families to say that they are fed up with the anti-child and anti-family policies of recent years and therefore want change. It is up to the people of Budapest to say that enough is enough of the scandals, theft and chaos caused by the capital's leadership. It is up to rural people and farmers to say that the deliberate destruction of the Hungarian countryside must end once and for all. And precisely because they want to end it, they want radical change. So it is our turn, dear friends! History can only help us if we do our own thing. If we do not do this, I tell you, believe me, that theDespite the best opinion polls, there will be no radical turnaround. Come on, dear friends, what can those who do not live with the big moments hope for in life? Who does not go on their own first date. Who misses their own wedding. Those who do not appear at the entrance exam or do not enter the competition in which they would otherwise like to be the winner. Come on, what can you hope for in life? Dear Friends! There can be no greater shame on a nation than that, although it has an opportunity to recover, it has an opportunity to regain its pride, but fails to do so. Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends, Everyone knows cases where one person waited for another and finally the opportunity slipped away. Don't let everyone think on Sunday that the others will be there. I ask you not to leave your own business to someone else. If there are not enough of us, both the big moment and the great opportunity can be lost. And then we Hungarians will also lose what we have left. Therefore, my message to everyone is to use the remaining time to prepare. And it also helps others prepare for the big moment. Everyone needs to know what they have to lose if radical change does not happen. The future of young people would shrink further and their chances would be less and lessContinue your education, get a job, build a career, start a family, create your own home in Hungary. Without change, older people will have no guarantee of a secure livelihood, health care, or the respect and care they deserve. If there is no radical change in politics, there will be no turnaround in the economy. And if there is no turnaround in the economy, unemployment will continue to rise, fewer people will pay taxes, more people will need benefits, and in the end the state will be unable to handle this situation. There will simply be nothing to pay for pensions and social benefits. Entrepreneurs and workers need to know that if there is no change, more businesses will go bankrupt and more people will lose their jobs. They need to know that without change there is no grasping, and without clinging there will be no ascension. And, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends, it is also worth remembering in the coming days what the past eight years have taken away from whom. Everyone has acquaintances, relatives and co-workers whose lives have been ruined by bad politics and governance over the past eight years. Families, relationships, friendships broke up. Masses of businesses have gone bankrupt and, yes, we know of people whose lives have been destroyed and this is just the tip of the iceberg. We know thatThere are also a very large number of tragedies that are taking place more slowly. How many people have been victims of crime because of the deterioration of public safety? How many people did not receive timely and adequate help because of the dismantling of healthcare? How many people flee hopelessness and unemployment for drink and drugs? We must think of them on Sunday too! We must also pronounce the verdict on their behalf and that those who brought Hungary here must be held accountable. It is therefore in everyone's interest to do what history expects us to do now. And if we act this Sunday, we can wake up in another country on Monday morning, and change can begin in every aspect of our lives. Dear Friends! I am going to vote. I will take my family with me, I will tell my friends, neighbors and acquaintances to vote. So I suggest everyone do likewise. Go out yourself, take your family, friends, acquaintances, everyone you can take with you. Don't be slothful! Call those who live further away and encourage them to change. Encourage them not to lose any of their votes. They cast both votes for Fidesz, for the Fidesz candidate and for the Fidesz list! Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends, Remember, this Sunday is a day of action. It's going to be a great Sunday, big things are ahead,Don't miss out! It's time Hungary! It's time, Hungarians! | 2 |
A. Butkevičius' speech to President D. Grybauskaitė in the Seimas when submitting his candidacy for Prime Minister the Honourable Speaker of the Seimas, members of the Seimas, thank you for the opportunity to check trust in the Government in the Representation of the Nation. It is a great privilege and honor for me to present the activities and future works of the Sixteenth Government. Having started working a year and a half ago, the Cabinet of Ministers announced a measure of the effectiveness of its activities. The won Independence must ensure a better life for the people of Lithuania not somewhere else, but here, in our historical Homeland. The face of the economic hardship, which has not yet ended, did not prevent a fundamental change in attitudes towards the state's economy. The sixteenth Government proposed another path for the creation of the welfare of the state. Reducing excessive constraints, supporting job creation and promoting businesses and investment in every way to increase people's incomes, reduce poverty and social exclusion between metropolitan areas and regions. Not to dictate our own order, but to find the best solutions together with the social partners. We will adhere to the guidelines of this path, which lead Lithuania to the leaders of economic growth in the European Union, in the future. Unemployment in the country is steadily falling, and the average wage has increased by as much as 6.2 percent. And that's the biggest wage growth in the last five years. However, Lithuania will become really strong when its regions recover, when those who have left during the recession want to return to them. That is why we will continue to focus on the regions, with billions of investments. The sixteenth Government accepted the challenge of reducing energy prices at record highsand to strengthen Lithuania's energy independence from the monopoly source of the East. Already at the end of last year, the decisions made it possible to stop the growth of electricity and gas prices. The resumption of negotiations with the Russian concern Gazprom has also yielded good results - since July 1, natural gas tariffs for domestic consumers have been falling by an average of 20 percent. After the buy-out of a shareholding in Gazprom and the German company EON, we ensured state control over strategic companies transporting and selling natural gas. We will continue the renovation of buildings according to the new model, the transformation of the heat economy, biofuels and other programs that will help to modernize Lithuanian energy and reduce prices for consumers. In the social field, we not only stand by our commitment to compensate for the pensions expropriated by the former Government, but we plan to start increasing them from next year. We will also use the additional budget to raise the salaries of the lowest earners. For those who do not have or are not able to find a job, the Employment Program provides for various forms of employment, return to the labor market. We are creating a pension system that will reduce the risks of political intervention and provide for an objective mechanism for maintaining value. The labor code governing labor relations will ensure a qualitatively new balance between social security and flexibility in relations. Over the past year, we have significantly reduced youth unemployment by 4.8 percentage points. This is one of the best indicators in the European Union. Through the European Social Democratic Youth Guarantee, which was supported by the Council of the European Union last year and for which funding has already been provided, we will make young people even betterthe conditions for finding a job. The financial perspective for 2014- 2020 is a field of great opportunities for our state. Therefore, we are directing the funds of support to the programs of new technologies and innovations, cooperation between science and business, because they are the best tools for the state to strengthen its powers and not to lose in competitive battles. In many areas, the Sixteenth Government was only halfway through its work. Lithuania's economic growth base needs to be further strengthened. We will continue to create a favourable environment for business and investment, especially in the areas of innovative technologies, expand exports to new markets, apply new measures in the fight against corruption and the black economy, for example, by introducing a smart tax administration system. These are not empty promises. When, just over a year ago, we announced an ambitious ambition for the introduction of the euro, it seems that only our Government believed in this. Now no one doubts that the euro will certainly be from 2015. But this required not only words, but also very responsible and hard work. We are ready for this kind of work. I ask for your trust and invite you to work together. Thank you for your attention. | 1 |
Slovak PM Robert Fico's Speech: Opening a New (bizarre) Heating Building Burning Organic Material Transcript of the speech of the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico, on the occasion of the opening of a new operation of the boiler room for wood chips Robert Fico, Prime Minister Dear Mayor, President of the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region, I have really prepared, I have also prepared a speech, but I will be very brief. I really want to thank you for inviting me to visit your city, during which, among other things, we will symbolically cut the ribbon and open this woodchip boiler room. I read a lot about it while still in the car, it's really a very interesting project. Based on the information available to me, this investment will contribute to savings in heating costs, improve the availability of heat supplies for households, but will also make the level and quality of your city's heat management more efficient overall. This fact, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, also comes to the fore because, as you all know, we are now having a rather complicated dialogue with the French and German shareholders of the Slovak Gas Industry regarding gas prices for households. We are doing everything we can to ensure that this price does not go up in any case, because we see no reason to increase the price of gas for households. That is why I declare very clearly and responsibly at this point that evenI personally and the government as a whole will not allow uncontrolled and unjustified increases in prices not only of gas, but also of other types of energy in our country. I believe that, as far as electricity for households is concerned, it will be good news for 2009 that electricity will remain at the same level as in previous years. The excuse of monopolies for deteriorating conditions on global energy markets will not stand up in any way, and we will not accept this argument under any circumstances. Another important moment of the opening of this new boiler room is the fact that in the future it is expected that obsolete wiring will be replaced and modernized, as well as the connection of the industrial zone to heating with wood chips from this boiler room. I was also informed about this at a short meeting that we had in the mayor's room. The cheaper energy obtained in this way will be another impulse for investors who assess their investment plans primarily from the point of view of the overall cost of the investment. In this context, I am very pleased that investors are showing and continuing to show interest in your industrial zone, such as the Korean company Yura, which produces wiring harnesses for the automotive industry, and a further expansion of production is envisaged, which would mean the creation of around 1000 jobs in the region, which is a very important argument. I want to say that I am also very pleasedThe results of the government's external meetings, because we can also combine this with our activities in the regions. Finally, the boiler room itself, or this method of heat production as such, also brings new jobs. It employs people in the collection of wood waste, others in its processing into chips, as well as in operating the technology for processing and transporting biomass. At the same time, these are jobs that do not require high qualifications, so it is a way to employ people who otherwise cannot find a job. Here I also want to say that we are launching so-called social enterprises, so I believe that this will also be a great contribution for people who have problems finding a job due to their qualifications. And last but not least, I must also emphasize the direct financial effect for the residents, because heating with wood waste is, in addition to waste heat from a nuclear power plant, the cheapest way to heat households, so people in this region save thousands of crowns a year compared to other parts of Slovakia, where gas or brown coal is heated. And of course, the positive impact of the entire project on the environment is also not negligible. There is no wood waste left in the forests, which is a breeding ground for pests, and burning wood instead of gas or even coal reduces carbon dioxide emissions by thousands of tons. Dear friends, ladies and gentlemen, allow me toHe also spoke very briefly, very briefly, on the topic of the financial crisis, the huge financial crisis and its consequences and impacts on our economy. We are all looking at it very closely, we are watching it, and you are certainly also following the measures that are being taken at the European or even Slovak level. We all believe that we will be able to restore confidence in the financial and, above all, capital markets. We have taken the decision to guarantee deposits in banks up to one hundred percent without any participation of citizens, and we are very carefully monitoring the behaviour of Slovak banks, which are in the position of subsidiaries in relation to mothers who are in the territory of other Member States of the European Union. Today, I can say that the banking sector in Slovakia is stable, it is credible, and now we will be primarily concerned with how to minimise the impact that the economic crisis may have, especially on the automotive industry. However, I want to state very clearly and responsibly that the Government of the Slovak Republic, of which I am the Prime Minister, will proceed very vigorously and we will not stand idly by and watch the possible devastation of the progress made in our country and the deterioration of the living, working and social conditions of our population. I want to say that we follow a simple motto in our policy - the people of the state, the state to the people. You have done a lot for this republic, because you often work hard for low wages, that's why Slovakia haseconomic growth, now is the time for the republic to gradually return it to the people. That is why the motto - the people of the state, the state to the people will be the motto that we will follow very carefully in our everyday decisions. In conclusion, let me wish you a lot of success in developing your city, the entire region for the benefit of all the people who live and work here. And thank you for coming in such large numbers. May we succeed together. Thank you very much. | 1 |
Gordon Brown unveils a new statue of Nelson Mandela
today let me on behalf of all the people
of our country
welcome to Britain today the man who
will be remembered the man with no
prison cell no intimidation no violence
no show trauma no threat of execution
silence if the man has belief in the
future was so powerful that not even 27
years behind bars and barbed wire who
destroy his dream and his demand that by
fighting apartheid from his prison cell
millions today could be an athlete and
from this day forward and from this day
forward this statue will stand here in
size of this ancient forum of democracy
to commemorate and celebrate for the
ages
triumph in the greatest of causes he is
the most inspiring and greatest leader
of our generation
Nelson Mandela is one of the most
courageous and best loved men of all
time
he is the leader who became the
Liberator who always chose
reconciliation above revenge when he
left his country's prisons to become his
country's president led South Africa
away from a racial dictatorship and a
multi-racial democracy was born and when
people look back on this generation on
this man they will say whenever there
was oppression wherever there was
poverty whenever there was injustice and
wherever there was inequality Mandela
was fighting for the peoples of the
world by the lakes and by Richard
Attenborough is for us today and for
future generations more than just a
monument for only a street away from
where tens of thousands of people
demonstrated years ago for the release
of Nelson Mandela this statue is a
beacon of hope it sends around the world
the most powerful of messages but no
injustice and lasts forever
that's suffering in the cause of freedom
will never be in vain that no matter how
long the nights of oppression the
morning of Liberty will break through
and there is nothing that we the peoples
of the world working together fighting
with all of us the evil of global
poverty and let us welcome visit today
and leadership is courageous and
inspirational life Russia
Michelle game
and both these leaders are telling us
that by our common endeavors we can
abolish poverty and illiteracy in this
generation and we can become the first
generation in history to ensure every
child in the world has the rights to
education and schooling but by our
shared resolution we can be the first
generation in history to eradicate the
deadliest diseases of malaria diphtheria
tuberculosis polio and then together
attack the scourge of hiv/aids and if
what seemed the impassable pinnacle of
ending apartheid can be scaled in the
last century then in this century
inspired by Nelson Mandela we can make
poverty history and make this world than
you so I now invite him Wendy Richard to
unveil this statue today with me across
from Winston Churchill who led us in the
defeat against fascism near to every
Lincoln the great Emancipator will stand
Nelson Mandela the liberator of people
may Nelson Mandela's story and they is
statute son in US and future generations
to stand with him and to seek a world
worthy of what is best in our common
humanity President Mandela you will be
here with us always
you
| 0 |
Description: Description: logopresidencia INAUGURATION OF THE ABEL JIMÉNEZ PARRA COLISEUM AND DELIVERY OF THE PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE OF SAMANES PARK Guayaquil, April 24, 2017 https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2886/34209940656_1225c68079.jpg What a great satisfaction for an honest politician, for one who does not seek power to enrich himself but the power to serve, to change, to improve the lives of others, to be happy by making others happy, to be here to keep a promise. If the Citizens' Revolution has done anything, it is to rescue the value of the word in politics. In these 10 years we have done what we offered to the Ecuadorian people. What those Ecuadorian people ordered at the polls. Today we fulfill a new promise, the brand new Abel Jiménez Parra Coliseum for Guayaquil, for the province of Guayas. MULTI-PARK PROJECT This was one of the many projects of the Revolution. The Revolution is constant change, creativity. We saw that our cities and particularly Guayaquil were in urgent need of green spaces. The WHO recommends 9 square meters of green space per inhabitant. When we came to power, Guayaquil had half a square meter, but it was not only Guayaquil, but also many other cities in Ecuador, but being perhaps the most serious, we devised the "Ecological Guayaquil" project. This project contemplatesSamanes Park (600 hectares), Santay Island (2,000 hectares), linear parks (more than 40 kilometers), the Estero Salado. We also seek to create other spaces of healthy recreation for our families, for our young people. For example, the Atarazana park, which has been a total success, was the old warehouses of the National Development Bank and next to it was the Bank's staff club, all that was demolished and now it is a beautiful playground. We also built Huancavilca Park where that horrific building from the time of the partycracy "the blender" used to be. We are building a millennium campus in Zofragua where dozens of hectares were to be used for a free zone that was never built. A millennium campus is large green spaces with public facilities, in this case the Guasmo Sur hospital, soon three millennium schools will begin to be built, there will be a higher technical institute, a sports center, for that populated area in the south of the city. In Fertisa we also have projects where the ASOGUAYAS fields are located. Many of these projects had to be stopped due to the economic difficulties of the last two years, but when we had some liquidity, we fulfilled a long-awaiteddream. We knew we were right, it should be easier to do the projects. Certain media, certain neighbors of the neighborhood, when we decided to move those sports spaces from their old place and bring them to Samanes Park and instead make a park there, even went so far as to say that a neighbor was opposed to the construction of the park because he would miss the goal shouts. There was a lot of opposition to the project to transform the FEDEGUAYAS sports complex, Pío López Lara Complex, into a park open to the public, move the Abel Jiménez coliseum to Samanes Park and provide a professional soccer field in compensation to FEDEGUAYAS. We almost gave up on the project, not because we were not sure because we were right, but because we were tired because there are so many cities that are waiting for government works and where we want to do one, they put so many obstacles in our way. Fortunately they went well, INMOBILIAR does a great job. That park is a success, today the majesty of the Yeyo Úraga is appreciated. It has even improved the security of the neighborhood. Many schools use it for their physical education classes. By the way, in neighborhoods where the public sector has not arrived as it should, improvement fees will not be charged. DETAILS OFCOLISEUM Here you have the new Abel Jiménez Parra Coliseum, for about 1,300 spectators with all the comforts, lighting, scoreboards, offices, rooms for narrators, and behind it is the gym for combat sports in replacement of the previous César Salazar Navas. This coliseum maintains the name of "Abel Jiménez Parra" in homage to the captain of the powerful provincial basketball teams with which Guayas dominated the national sports scene in the 60s and 70s, golden years for Guayas sports and who died in a tragic accident. The coliseum has a multipurpose court, sanitary batteries, dressing rooms, parking lots, green areas. The construction area is 2,500 m2 on a 2-hectare (20,000 m2) plot of land and the investment has been about 6.3 million dollars (6,249,433.49). Today we signed two additional agreements with FEDEGUAYAS. A few months ago we inaugurated the Emelec and Barcelona soccer fields, another great idea of the national government. But that is only the beginning, we need to do the residencies. That is why today we have signed an agreement to deliver an additional 7 hectares to each one. Never as a government have I given a single scoreboard or stand to a soccer team because they are companiesprivate schools, but soccer schools are different because they are helping to fulfill the function of the State. They work with children and young people in extreme poverty, rescue them from misery, teach them sports, help educate them. In fact, we are also going to build a millennium school here so that these children can live in the residence in Samanes Park, train in sports schools and be educated in millennium schools. That is, they have a comprehensive education. THE BRIDGE OVER AV. FCO. DE ORELLANA Today we also delivered another work to Guayaquil, a pedestrian bridge that will facilitate the crossing over Francisco de Orellana Avenue (10 lanes) from Samanes Park to the sector of the trails where you can enjoy a bike path, canopy and climbing wall. This beautiful pedestrian and bicycle bridge is 215 meters long and 4.5 meters wide. When things are done with love, great results are obtained. This park has changed the lives of Guayaquil residents. We never said that we were going to finish Samanes but we did say that we were going to leave it very advanced, but there is still work to be done. This park reaches the banks of the Daule river and the idea is to make mirrors ofwater or a professional track for canoeing. The camping area, the nursery, the pedagogical area, more soccer fields, tennis courts are missing. To culminate that, there are still areas that are not yet part of the park and belong to the ISSFA. We have been negotiating for more than two years to sell us these lands – the president of the Republic should not negotiate with his subordinates – which add up to 164 hectares. What was the ISSFA doing with so much land? These lands belong to the ISSFA but we must all be in function of the common good and these lands are required to complete the Samanes Park project. So Guayaquil, I already left the government on May 24, I am going to wait only this week to reach an agreement with the ISSFA. These lands cost about 14 million dollars, but if an agreement is not reached this week, next week, in use of my constitutional powers, I will expropriate these lands for the benefit of Guayaquil. So Guayaquil to be very attentive, not to let ourselves be snatched away from this shared dream, which is the Samanes Park, the largest in the world that is being built at the present time. CLOSING Guayaquil dear, here is anew sports arena, the Abel Jiménez Parra Coliseum, and you have your new pedestrian crossing, beautiful aesthetic, functional joining the two sectors of the park. Congratulations to INMOBILIAR for its efficiency in this new work. Congratulations to FEDEGUAYAS for their cooperation, for their support. Congratulations to all of you. Enjoy this new sports venue, enjoy your Samanes park. Thank you so much. Until victory always! RAFAEL CORREA DELGADO Constitutional President of the Republic of Ecuador | 1 |
Topolanek: Estonia and Czech Republic are Natural Partners in 21. Century in Europe 06.05.2008 Topolánek: Estonia and the Czech Republic are natural partners in 21st century Europe Office of the Government, Czech Prime Minister delivered a speech at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia on 5 June 2008. • The title of my lecture may seem a bit like a cliché. In fact, however, it accurately describes the situation. The Czech Republic and Estonia have so many common interests and points of contact that it would be enough for a lecture series. I will limit myself to a brief list and even so, I am afraid that my speech will not be the shortest. First, a little history. In Estonia, Jindřich Matthias Thurn, commander of the army of the Estates during the anti-Habsburg uprising in 1618-1620, lived out his life. He died in 1999. 1641 and is buried in Tallinn. Since the 19th century, Estonian patriots have been inspired by the Czech National Revival, later the successful First Republic. During the communist era, Czech culture was extremely popular in Estonia, and the good soldier Švejk is probably even more popular here than at home. Today, on the contrary, we are inspired by Estonian liberal reforms and the computerization of public administration. And there are many other reasons why we should care about each other. We are compatible in so many ways that it would be a grave mistake not to take advantage of this obvious advantage. European Union: I will start with cooperation in the EU. Anyway, I'm comingto Estonia as part of the tour de capitals as Prime Minister of the future country holding the Presidency. On the one hand, the Union has its own inertia, its own trajectory, and we cannot even have the ambition to fundamentally shift its direction within six months. But this must not lead us to resign. On the contrary, we must try to find allies with the same views and interests who will help us to initiate positive changes and push through a basic liberalization program. Estonia is undoubtedly such an ally. Like the Czech Republic, it has a vital interest in an open, flexible EU. Like the Czech Republic, it rejects the rigid unification and bureaucratization of the Union. Like the Czech Republic, it wants a globally competitive and free Europe. We see Estonia as our natural ally in Europe. We were invited to the EU at the same time and joined it together. We have the same unfortunate historical experience with communism and the dictates of a powerful center, and we certainly do not want to exchange Moscow for Brussels. We have the same interest in eliminating discrimination against the new member states, pushing for the completion of the liberalisation of the internal market and the full exercise of the four fundamental EU freedoms: the free movement of persons, goods, capital and services. And both our countries are sceptical about the functioning of a number of common EU policies. Our position in the European Union is so identical that we are experiencing exactly the same basic dilemma, we have the same basic reasonto optimism and scepticism. On the one hand, EU membership brings us an economic boom thanks to our involvement in a large common market. On the other hand, we are harmed by unnecessary bureaucracy, a number of restrictive regulations and orders from the center. The decision of the Czech Republic and Estonia to join the EU was not motivated by idealism, but by the pragmatic consideration that profits outweigh losses, which is still true. Both our countries are economically dependent on trade, financial and economic interconnections with EU countries. In our case, it is especially our large neighbor Germany. Overall, 85 percent of our foreign trade is made up of exchanges within the Union. Estonia, on the other hand, is connected to the Swedish and Finnish economies. That is why we value the advantages of the common market so much, that is why we criticise so much everything that distorts it, that worsens our position vis-à-vis the old Member States. In particular, the expensive common agricultural policy, which favors Western farmers. This injustice is not changed by the fact that farmers make up a negligible percentage in our countries. That is why Estonia and the Czech Republic protested against the persisting discrimination at the March EU Council. It is only logical that the European debate in both countries is very similar. It voices concerns about a loss of economic momentum due to bureaucratic obstacles and restrictions on business. As well as criticism of violent unification efforts and the possiblethe division of the Union into "centre" and "periphery". We and you are dealing with the issue of the application of a small country among the stronger members, especially after the extension of qualified majority voting. And Estonia and the Czech Republic prefer further EU enlargement to deeper integration, advocating a greater role for nation states and rejecting federalization. Both our countries support the admission of Croatia and accession talks with Turkey. The enlargement of the EU to include the Western Balkans and, in the long term, Turkey also represents an expansion of the area of stability, security, peace and prosperity. The same applies to the neighbourhood policy, where we also agree to promote relations with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. Another point of agreement is the position on the European Commission's energy and climate package. The Czech and Estonian governments are of the opinion that it is necessary to proceed sensitively, to take into account local conditions and not to disadvantage entrepreneurs against non-European competition. In particular, this applies to auctions of emission allowances and the share of renewable sources in electricity production. Czech Presidency of the EU After what I have said, I really believe that the motto of our forthcoming Presidency - 'Europe without barriers' - will find many supporters here in Estonia. Although it is true that we will not transform the EU in six months, we want to at least turn our attention to the values on which it is based. To the values that brought it prosperity and security for half a century. And which are also the key to solving the problems that lie ahead of herstand and will stand at any time in the future. The basic European value is freedom, followed by solidarity. We want to try to shift the current European thinking towards greater liberalisation. I am optimistic about this, because this change in the current balance of power is already underway. The basic motto "Europe without barriers" is based on five slogans that cover the most important areas of further development: - A competitive and open Europe - Sustainable and secure energy - A budget for the future of Europe - Europe as a global partner - A secure and free Europe As is customary, we will announce our specific priorities just before the start of the Presidency. This is also based on the results of this tour, where we are looking for allies and finding out which topics we have the best chance of success. In any case, I find it inspiring that 2009 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain and that it will also be five years since the largest enlargement of the Union in history. These anniversaries are another argument for striving to remove the remaining European barriers, especially when it comes to the free market. I consider the removal of barriers, whether inside or outside the EU, to be a fundamental mission not only of the Czech Republic, but of all other new countries. We are more sensitive in this respect than those who have never known communism. We have lived in a planned economy for too long, which is why we value the free market so much. AppreciateWe know how it has benefited us and the original members, and therefore we reject the effort to slow down further enlargement. An effort motivated by completely irrational fears of losing social achievements. During our Presidency, we definitely want to draw attention to the persisting restrictions on the free movement of labour and services. I appreciate that Estonian MPs, together with Czech MPs, supported a resolution criticising the inadequacy of the relevant liberalisation directive. Persistent discrimination is not only unfair to the citizens of the new countries, but ultimately limits the prosperity of all. Other issues include the problematic functioning of the internal energy market, the over-financing of traditional policies (especially the common agricultural policy, as I have already said) and unnecessary regulation. It is necessary to end the practice where an obviously wrong decision to regulate this or that is immediately followed by even tighter regulation, arguing that bureaucrats need "better" tools. We do not want better regulation, we want less regulation. We also want national feedback, because the consequences of the Brussels directives fall on our entrepreneurs and sole traders, whose interests we have to defend. It is during our Presidency that the measurement of the administrative burden on entrepreneurs resulting from EU regulations will be evaluated. Its aim is to start reducing this burden. In cooperation with the United Kingdom, we will hold a meeting of ministers responsible for regulatory reform from those EU countries that have made progress in the area of regulatory reform in the area of regulatory reform and regulatory reform.Simplification of the regulatory environment for some progress (i.e. in addition to the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, also Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Slovenia and Estonia. The result of this meeting should be the signing of a joint "Prague Declaration", the aim of which is to reduce regulation and eliminate administrative obligations for entrepreneurs. I hope that Estonia, which has not yet confirmed its participation, will participate. Even within the EU's external dimension, we see barriers that need to be broken down: restrictions on trade with third countries. An insufficiently functioning energy policy of the Union. Slowed dynamics of EU enlargement. And also the existing obstacles to transatlantic economic cooperation. Furthermore, it is necessary to make progress in the creation of a common EU migration and asylum policy in connection with the removal of barriers to the mobility of persons between the Member States of the Union. Overall, we need to achieve greater external openness of the Union. Security The same historical experience leads us to the same attitudes on the issue of security cooperation. It is based on the transatlantic bond. We, and certainly you, never want to be part of that "strange space between Germany and Russia", as General Wellington put it. The Czech Republic has always supported the accession of the Baltic countries, including Estonia, to NATO, and we have also provided regular security consultations. It is good that this has been achieved and that the fears of Moscow's reaction have not been confirmed. After all, the expansion of the alliance is not a threat to Russia, but, on the contrary, brings a zone of security closer to its bordersand stability. The Alliance is a defensive, not an offensive community, and it calms the situation in Russia's neighbourhood as it has never been in the past. And we will certainly agree that NATO membership provides both the Czech Republic and Estonia with security guarantees at the highest level, including at least equal status with Russia. The Czech government is of the opinion that NATO's most valuable asset is a common will to defend. That is why we welcomed the fact that the alliance has adopted the concept of anti-missile defence and that elements of the American system that are to be located in the Czech Republic and Poland will become part of NATO structures. We must take responsibility for the defence of our allies. We do not consider the radar to be either American or Czech, but simply "our", alliance, because it strengthens the common defence of all. For us, anti-missile defence is our next contribution to common security, such as the Centre for Protection against Weapons of Mass Destruction in Vyškov. Similarly, Estonia wants to increase the effectiveness of collective defense by building a cyber defense center. Building these alliance "centers of excellence" shows that we have successfully managed the transformation and professionalization of our armed forces and that we are no longer just passive recipients of security guarantees, but are ready to actively contribute to the defense of the community. A practical example of joint and indivisible defence within NATO is the Air Policing of the Baltic countries and Slovenia.The Czech Republic is intensively preparing for the fulfilment of this task, which will take place within the NATO mission in 2009 in the period from May to August 2009. Our cooperation in the field of military education has also proven successful. For example, members of the Army of the Czech Republic regularly study at the Baltic Defence College. We are also allies in foreign missions. I appreciate that Estonia is, among other things, an active member of the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. And that the Estonian Parliament has decided to extend this mission despite the sacrifices you have here. We also had casualties, and yet last week we decided to send another unit to Afghanistan to increase the military participation to the number approaching five hundred. The issue of energy security is also one of the security and geopolitical issues. We fully share your concerns about Russia's growing efforts to use energy policy as an instrument of great power policy. We support Estonia's integration into the European transmission system. And just like you, we feel threatened by the planned construction of a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, the so-called Baltic Sea Pipeline. Northstream, which bypasses both Estonian and Czech territory. Along with the construction of South Stream and North Stream, there is a risk of by-passing Central and Eastern Europe, which will unilaterally increase our already high dependence on Russian raw material policy. In our opinion, the only solution is a joint approach by all EU countries andExclusion of solo actions. These principles should be incorporated into the Energy Charter, which will be part of a broader agreement between the European Union and Russia. E-Government An area in which Estonia is clearly a model for us is progress in e-Government. We are also introducing the possibility for citizens to comment on draft laws electronically and to communicate with authorities from one place without the use of paper. However, I recognise that Estonia is well ahead of us. In our country, the practical development of e-Government also began with the arrival of my government. We also consider progress in promoting e-Justice to be one of the priorities of our Presidency, which I am sure will be well received in Estonia. In addition to the computerization of justice on a national scale, we would like to move forward, for example, in linking insolvency and criminal records. We are also interested in moving forward with the e-Health project, a pan-European online health book. Economy In the end, I kept the economy. I must say that I very much admire the courage with which the Estonians have carried out economic reforms, a high degree of liberalisation, consistently balanced and rather surplus budgets, and the sensible use of public funds. And I'm a bit allergic to derisive voices that radical reforms are only good for poor countries. Rome was a weak republic compared to the Egyptian Empire, but in the end it won a handy victory over it thanks to the economic power gained by a more liberal approach to trade. Europe was compared toChina a poor and insignificant power before it began to assert its virtues of freedom and individual initiative thousands of years ago. The United States has gone from being a country of immigrants and trappers to becoming a leading power because of the power of economic freedom. Estonians are following in these footsteps. And I will consider it an honor to walk that path with you. As I said, we are natural allies in Europe. Today, it is a rich and developed continent. Only sometimes does he forget where all this prosperity came from. In the 21st century, we need to go back to our roots. The basic European value and the greatest virtue that has always brought us success and prosperity is not solidarity, but freedom. Behind the huge post-war boom of European societies is the growth of competition, not regulation. The guarantee of our economic and social security is the free market, not protectionism. Small open economies such as the Czech Republic and Estonia are more dependent on the free market and liberal trade than the large ones. But that doesn't mean that the big EU countries can ignore our interests. When small creatures start to die in the stream, soon there will be big fish, because poisoned water is bad for everyone. We therefore have a great task in common: to promote our interests in the Union with the greatest possible force, consistency and alliance. Our greater sensitivity allows us to see future riskssooner and sharper than others. We know that we are right. As the Czech religious reformer Jan Hus said: "Truth is only that which is the good of all." And our truth is freedom. | 1 |
Dear colleagues, supporters and friends, Dear guests, We present the "Program for European Development of Bulgaria" of PP GERB at this moment, almost at the end of the election campaign for the European Parliament, not by chance. Not because we are striving to enter the pre-election chronicles with this event. But because we want to clearly express our understanding that the national and European policies of our party are not indifferent. We are convinced that we can only pursue a good policy in the country if we cooperate with our Euro-Atlantic partners. Bulgaria should actively participate in the formation of European decisions and be part of them in order to guarantee national interests. We are also convinced that we can restore Europe's trust and be a respected nation only if we pursue a correct, consistent with European norms, requirements and priorities national policy here in Bulgaria. For this, there can be only one program for governing Bulgaria: "Program for European Development of Bulgaria". For us, it is the result of a comprehensive creative and political process. It started from the idea and with the mission of PP GEPB, went through our first program "New Right-Wing Contract for Bulgaria" from 2007, developed into the political and managerial ideas that we present today and continuein the development of the specific policies and management decisions we are planning. These decisions will be tailored to the realities we will face. At the moment, we cannot even fully and comprehensively predict them. We do not know how and in what parameters the global crisis and the recession in the country will develop. We cannot predict in what state we will find the state. That is why the most important thing we say to all Bulgarians today is: We from GERB want to be honest with you and not to lie to you. Not only before you cast your vote for us, but also afterwards, when we will be in Parliament and the government of the country. That is why in the "Program for European Development of Bulgaria" of PP GERB you will not find loud promises. She is realistic and honest. Bulgarian citizens should know that what we want to achieve is much more than what we will probably be able to do. Especially at a time of crisis and with the heavy legacy of the BSP, MRF and NMSII government. But I assure you that we will do our best to achieve the best for Bulgaria! Today, at this forum, we will refute the criticism of our opponents who exploitpublic fears. For this I state clearly: GERB has personnel and expert potential to govern. For almost two years, 19 working committees have been working in the party, in which almost 200 experts discussed, argued, looked for ideas for the governance we want to implement. In parallel with them, the opinions and assessments of a wide range of professionals from all fields were sought and heard. The help of our friends from the EPP in the process of developing our management ideas was also useful for us. Here is the place to emphasize the invaluable merit of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, with whose assistance we managed to organize discussions on the main sectoral policies throughout the country and thus enrich and promote our ideas. I express our sincere and great gratitude for this. I thank the civil, professional, trade union, employers' organizations with which we checked our ideas. Without the invaluable help and efforts of all of you, we would not have a "Program for European Development of Bulgaria" today. I say for sure that GERB has alternative ideas for governance. In our program there are no empty promises, there are not even those that sound good and easily win voters. It "crossed out" all statements that can deceive you by presenting what the Bulgarians want as guaranteed by our policy. To the representatives of theI can say to the media: you will not get ready-made headlines from this text. But every open-minded person will find in it our responsibility to govern, the desire to follow what has been achieved and good practices where they exist, our desire to govern in the interests of Bulgarian citizens. This is actually an alternative to the current political practice and a clear sign of the new type of policy that GERB will pursue. Tomorrow, when we win the elections honestly and with dignity, we will strive to prove: • That the country can be governed in a way different from that of previous governments and especially of the Triple Coalition • That there can be honesty, openness and political will in politics to overcome objective difficulties • That by changing the style of politics and governance, We will give a European image of the state in order to achieve the most important thing – a dignified life and European self-esteem of Bulgarian citizens. This is what we will strive for, this is what we will work for, and to this end we will measure both what we have achieved and the mistakes we will make. This time will not be easy for us. But we in PP GERB are aware that there have been no easy days for all Bulgarians so far. That is why we are ready to take on the challenge ofefforts to make their lives more bearable and more dignified. I am personally aware of how high this goal is and I clearly state: I do not promise you that we will achieve it quickly, completely and for everyone. But I guarantee you that I and PP GERB will follow this path and will follow our will to achieve the goal we all want. We believe that the basis of the overall progress of the country is the personal success of each citizen. The policy of PP GERB will encourage this natural human aspiration and will create conditions for its realization. Bulgaria needs to feel the thrill of success, of overcoming difficulties, of achieving what it wants. And we will work so that we can give it to her. The measure of the success of our policy will be the restored national self-confidence of Bulgarians and the trust gained in our country. If we achieve this, we will have achieved a lot. Bulgarians deserve it! The main condition for achieving this is to start working and living in accordance with European norms and standards of political and public life. So do not forget - Bulgaria's success begins with the success of PP GERB in the upcoming elections - on June 7 for the European Parliament and on July 5 for41st National Assembly! You know that empty words do not impress anyone, and we want you to believe us. I will tell you how we will work to get to our main goal – to rid the state and citizens of corruption. In its policy and governance, PP GERB will be guided by five main principles. 1. RULE OF LAW AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY This means: • A functioning and independent judiciary for fair punishments • Equality before the law for all, regardless of their position and status • Guaranteed security for citizens 2. The laws we adopt must: • Be consistent with long-term and not conjunctural needs • Guarantee the sustainable development of the country and the interests of citizens • Be based on serious and up-to-date economic and expert analyses and be adopted after public and expert discussions 3. INCREASING THE ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY OF THE STATE ADMINISTRATION This means: • To optimize structurally and functionally the state administration according to European standards • To ensure a process of continuous increase of administrative capacity • To develop and introduce e-government What will most significantly and visibly distinguish us from the current government is our readiness to comply with the principle of 4.• OPENNESS, TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE GOVERNMENTIt commits us to: • Providing accurate and up-to-date information about the work of the legislative and executive authorities. About the decisions that are taken and the motives for them. • Preliminary and ex-post assessment of the funds spent by the state. • Regular report on the degree of realization of the goals set in management decisions and government spending • Guaranteed access to socially significant information We are aware that we cannot work and achieve our goals if we do not provide even 5. We declare our will to take our management decisions into account with the opinion of various social, demographic, professional and business organizations. The constant dialogue with civil society organizations will help us to activate civil society and make it our full partner. We need this in government, because we are clearly aware that in order to implement a successful government, we need the efforts and potential of the entire nation. More importantly, Bulgarian society needs this cooperation between politics and civil society to happen. THE MAIN PRIORITIES THAT WE WILL WORK ON WHEN WE WIN THE TRUST OF BULGARIAN CITIZENS ARE: FIRST OF ALL: RESTORING AND GUARANTEEING JUSTICE IN BULGARIAN SOCIETY We define this priority as the main one in the "Program for European Development of Bulgaria", because we are aware thatthat Bulgarians more than ever need to: • Availability and observance of basic norms and laws in the country, • Fair punishments and effective administration of justice to everyone, regardless of their position and biography • Fight against corruption and organized crime. • Fair governance of the country to ensure the chance of success for everyone who aspires to it • Trust in state institutions, the political system and democracy. Everyone is aware that if we manage to achieve this, we will have solved the main problems, we will have guaranteed the way to the success of PP GERB. And we are also clearly aware that this is a task that can only be realized in the long term. The fruits of our efforts on this priority will be "harvested" by our children. But we are going down this path because the beginning must be set. And this is our historical mission. SECOND: PROSPERITY FOR BULGARIAN CITIZENS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE BULGARIAN ECONOMY The implementation of this priority is the first in time. We will start with it from the first day, because we are aware that we need to achieve higher pay and a better daily life for citizens. However, we should all be aware that this can only be done afterBy succeeding: • In the short term - to stop the recession, restore economic growth and break the schemes for plundering the state • In the long term - to revive and reform the Bulgarian economy in order to achieve sustainable income growth We can achieve this only if our management decisions are consistent with the universal European and world efforts. We from PP GERB are convinced that the Bulgarian way out of the crisis goes through the common European economic policy. Taking it as a guide for our political decisions, we will strive to revive the Bulgarian economy in the following directions: • Priority recovery and expansion of traditional Bulgarian sectors such as agriculture and tourism. • Development of the Bulgarian energy sector and ensuring the energy independence of our country. • Introduction of new information technologies in all sectors All this means that by rebuilding the country and the economy after the crisis, we will try to put it on new rails and modernize it. THIRD: IMPROVING SOCIAL SECURITY. CREATING A FAVORABLE AND HEALTHY LIVING ENVIRONMENT TO ENSURE PEOPLE'S PERSONAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH We at PP GERB are convinced that Bulgaria should be governed according to the model of the social market economy. The guiding principles in it are freedom, justiceand solidarity. It is carried out by the EPP member parties and is defined by leading European politicians such as Angela Merkel as "the best that politics can offer to citizens". This model is the best modern opportunity because it combines the principles of free economy and solidarity. PP GERB will pursue an active social policy aimed at changing the conditions and quality of life, and not only at solving individual problems provoked by these conditions. In order to limit unemployment, our policy will combine solidarity with incentives for social activity of citizens. We will work for a better environment and living conditions for people with disabilities, for the integration of socially disadvantaged and minority groups. Bulgarian pensioners are our main concern and moral responsibility. They bear the greatest difficulties and consequences of communist rule. Low pensions are predetermined by him. Unfortunately, in a crisis situation like the current one, we cannot do much to raise them. That is why we do not promise it today. But we declare that in our government we will not underestimate and forget our care for Bulgarian pensioners and we will work to reform the pension system. We want to give a chance to everyone who has crossed the pension limit to be able to work if they want to. Our mainand the most important goal is to improve the public health of the nation. Great and consistent efforts are required here. Political will is also needed to put an end to the vicious practices that harm citizens and prevent them from receiving quality health care. There is still a lot to be given to citizens in this area. We want to start on a solid foundation and hope that we will be able to take the right direction. Guaranteeing, maintaining and protecting the environment is an expression of our responsibility to the future and future generations. Our care for Bulgarian nature will be implemented in parallel with the wider use of renewable energy sources, solving the problems with household waste throughout the country, with a new policy in the water sector. Healthcare, social policy, ecology are the directions in which the most efforts should be made and in which it is most difficult to achieve a quick and tangible result. But they are the most important for the citizens, which means that they will be the most important for our government. FOURTH: DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION'S HUMAN CAPITAL FOR HIGHER NATIONAL SELF-ESTEEM AND SUCCESS OF EVERY CITIZEN THROUGH EUROPEAN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE Bulgarian education, science and culture have their valuable traditions and achievements. Today, they mustdeveloped and modernized. In order to continue our way forward, to get out of the crisis quickly, to develop rapidly, we need education that produces competitive personnel on the European labor market, active individuals with modern knowledge and high professional skills. In order to achieve better results, we will apply an integrated approach to education policy. We will focus our efforts on making Bulgarian science and research a major factor for the modernization and progress of our country and part of the global process of scientific development. In order to preserve the Bulgarian spirit and Bulgarian identity in a European environment, we will develop contemporary Bulgarian culture in parallel with the preservation of our rich cultural and historical heritage. Incentives are needed and we will provide them for the creative expression of Bulgarian artists and for the presentation of Bulgarian culture beyond our borders. We will try to "bring" the representatives and works of world culture to the Bulgarians. The progress of the Bulgarian nation and modern governance cannot be achieved without turning information and communication technologies into a major driver of innovation, economic development and competitiveness of all sectors of the economy. Information and communication technologies should become part of the everyday life of Bulgarians and a tool in the management of social processes. Thisis also a long and expensive process, but it is mandatory for the time we live. FIFTH: TURNING BULGARIA INTO A MAJOR FACTOR OF STABILITY IN THE REGION AND THE WORLD AND A RESPECTED MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN UNION We at PP GERB are convinced that the success of European integration is a unique historical chance for our country. But our membership in the European Union must be a real balance of rights and obligations. Bulgarian citizens must benefit from full-fledged integration and European solidarity, and in order for this to happen, we must pursue a consistent and active European policy. The realization of Bulgarian national interests requires our country not to be in the periphery, but in the center of European integration. Bulgaria has an interest in a strong European Union, based on common values and sharing a common vision for peace in the world, and will support all decisions that guarantee it. Our goal is to intensify our policy in the region in order to accelerate the admission of other Balkan countries in strict compliance with EU criteria. We are convinced that the partnership between NATO and the EU is the most reliable guarantor of peace and global security. The membership of the Republic of Bulgaria in NATO and the European Union is a condition for the sustainable development of the Bulgarian nationwithout being contrary to the interests of third parties. It is a guarantor of the protection of the freedom and interests of Bulgarian citizens, of peace and security in the Balkans and the Black Sea region. This is the most general framework of our political ambition for the implementation of the "Program for European Development of Bulgaria" of PP GERB. It is a reflection of our understanding of responsibility to Bulgarian history, the nation and the coming generations. With this program, we categorically and clearly say: Bulgaria can have its dignified European development! LET'S PROVE THAT BULGARIA CAN! | 0 |
PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC Press Secretariat SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, ALEJANDRO TOLEDO, ON THE OCCASION OF THE START OF WORK ON THE CASMA - HUARAZ HIGHWAY (SECTION II CRUZ PUNTA - PARIACOTO) Kilometer 27 of the Casma - Huaraz highway, Ancash, October 4, 2005 Mr. President of the Ancash Region, Mr. Minister of Transport and Communications, Madam Congressman of the Republic, Maruja Alfaro, Mr. Congressman of the Republic, Mr. Máximo Mena, Mr. Congressman of the Republic, Alberto Cruz, Mr. Congressman of the Republic, Alcides Llique, Mr. Mayor of Chimbote, Mr. Mayors, Members of the press, From Yaután, today we begin a dream postponed for more than 50 years. We are going to lay the first stone of this road, which starts from the Casma - Pariacoto highway: the Cruz Punta - Pariacoto sector, located in the province of Casma. From here we go to Huaraz, and from Huaraz we go to the jungle. There are three road axes of enormous importance for a country that builds. My father, who is bedridden today, taught me in Cabana, in Chimbote, how to build, because he is a builder, he is a bricklayer. Although he is prostrate, he knows that I am still working and he isI will do until the last minute of my government. He should be proud because I dedicate myself to my people. There are three very important road axes: the Southern Interoceanic Highway, which benefits 10 departments, 5.6 million Peruvians from Madre de Dios, Moquegua, Tacna, Arequipa, Cusco, Puno, Ayacucho, Apurimac, Huancavelica and Ica; to the north, we are building the Bimodal Interoceanic Highway, which goes from Puerto Paita to Yurimaguas to connect, through Iquitos, with Manaus; and in the Center, from Lima, leaving by the Rámiro Priále highway, passing through San Mateo, La Oroya, Cerro de Pasco, Huánuco, Tingo María, to Pucallpa. We are going to connect this road with that axis of the Center. These are works, the works are the ones that tell, the rest are stories. Friends, I have traveled this road when it was laminated and I was only 15 years old. Now we will be able to enter the Callejón de Huaylas circuit through Casma - Sechin to connect with Chavin and I hope to reach Pashas, where I was born. Sechin, Chavin, Pashas are part of our history. Now it is up to us to respond with development, through infrastructure works - I am accompanied by a construction minister - that connect Cruz Punta, San Cristobal,Vinto, Yaután, Pampay, Tanta Huallanca, Cajur, Pariacoto, Cachipampa. Friends, this section Punta Cruz - Pariacoto is 28 kilometers long. We are going to invest about 24 million and it will benefit about 300 thousand people in these small towns that are the heart of Peru. But I'm not going to stop there, I want to get to the Callejón de Huaylas and I'm going to make the Yungay-Llanganuco highway with the Armed Forces. We are going to invest another 83 million soles, because uniting our peoples is part of decentralization and when it comes to the poor there is no political color. Mr. President of the Region, thank you for your generous words; Mr. Mayor, Mr. Mayors of Ancash, the poor have no political color, my works do not respond to any partisan interest. This road is going to continue. I want to thank the congressmen of the Republic for supporting me to build, history will be in charge of judging us. But the works are the ones that count. For example, we have invested about 50 million soles in rural electrification from Casma to Huaraz. Today, children can read with electric light, they can have a computer, they will no longer have to read like I didI, with a lighter in a can of milk that others drank, will now be able to have a program through the internet: Huascarán. Moreover, what are we doing for Ancash? This road that goes from Casma to Huaraz But what else? The road from Chimbote to Huandoval, Chimbote - Cabana - Huandoval But what else? Mr. Mayor of Chimbote, you know that we are investing close to 40 million dollars to provide water and sewage to Chimbote. I have decided to rebuild the entire school that educated me: the Gran Unidad Escolar San Pedro de Chimbote. Mr. President, Mayors, I will return to deliver a completely rebuilt school for young people. I announce that the National University of Santa and the National University of Ancash already have their economic resources, they have to start investing it well. Gentlemen university authorities, get down to work. We have resources, use them well. Gentlemen, you have the money and there is the necessary political will, rebuild that university of Huaraz, that National University of Santa. They have the resources that come from IFAD. It is not possible for us to have money and not be able to invest it well. It is not the fault of the central government. Gentlemen, from here I invoke you with all respect, but get down to business.the work because if you don't do it, I'm going to do it. Finish the file, finish the studies, there is the money. Young people are waiting. We need quality education. I am respectful of the independence of the powers and university autonomy, but please, do not let young people migrate to seek education elsewhere. Friends, I have come not only to start the construction of this section, Cruz Punta - Pariacoto from Yaután. I have also come to pay tribute to the department where I was born, to a people that I love, to a people that has given me everything, that has given me the opportunity to lead the destiny of the nation. I pay tribute to you, sister and brother, to you I have come to say thank you. I am going to do everything necessary to promote agribusiness. Yaután, this beautiful valley produces mangoes, paprika, asparagus, avocados and grapes to export and generate more work. Those hands that I have touched are dignified hands that have calluses, because people are only waiting for a job. Agribusiness allows us to generate jobs. That's why I'm working for a Free Trade Agreementwith the United States to have a market so that you can place your mangoes, your avocados, your paprika. Gentlemen, this highway is going to generate around 6000 direct and indirect jobs, but, Mr. Businessman who has won the good bid, first allow me to congratulate you, and second, I publicly ask you to hire the people from here to build the road, not to bring people from outside. These people are waiting, they have hope. I am going to return to thank him and to inaugurate this section to continue from Pariacoto to Huaraz. Gentlemen, I want to get to Huaraz and when we get to Huaraz we are going to go to Llanganuco culminating those 20 kilometers. I have asked the Armed Forces to help me make the Yungay - Llanganuco section so that the world knows about the beauty of our department. Friends, I will continue to give until the last minute of my government and my life to my department, to deep Peru, to this Peru, to which I owe a lot. Gentlemen, Mr. President of the Region, Mr. Mayors, I want to make an invocation with mutual respect: do not politicize the works. Gentlemen, I give myself up, I do not make any distinction of political color, but do not politicize the works.Mr. Mayor of Chimbote, you are going to count on me to build the Chimbote stadium. Thank you very much for this generous reception, thank you so much for allowing me to touch your hands and your heart. I am going to return to travel by land and travel this section. We are going to push hard to reach Huaraz, the Callejón de Huaylas. May God bless you Thank you very much | 0 |
Speech of Calin Popescu Tariceanu, Prime Minister-designate of the PNL-PD Alliance 24/11/2004 / 23/11/2004 http://www.newsbucovina.ro/actualitate/10753/discursul-lui-calin-popescu-tariceanu-premier-desemnat-al-aliantei-pnl-pd I am honored, but also marked by this moment. Yes! It is an honor for me to be appointed by the D.A. Alliance for such an important mission. At the same time, both the mandate and the moment are very special! I met thousands of people these days in Moldova together with Traian Basescu. Moldova bears, more than other regions of the country, the stigma of the PSD's bankruptcy policy. Poverty. Despair. Hopelessness. Arrogant barons like their party boss. The wealth in the pockets of the barons, at the expense of the poverty in the houses of the Romanians! In the Government that I will lead, I will not be Prime Minister of Bucharest! I will not isolate myself in a luxurious office, among paintings and icons, among subordinates and aides! The Romanian Government is returning home! The country, the people with their problems, this is the reality and not what is written on paper, in folders sent to Brussels! In this way, the government that I will lead will take Romania out of the dead end in which the PSD has brought it! I know that many Romanians have often seen and believe that, as soon as he comes to power, the politician only minds his own business and that of the politicians.to his acolytes. Over the years, the PSD has offered them the most eloquent examples, because it has brought forward upstarts eager for power. The PSD gave a prime minister who was an art collector, a great lover of expensive things and houses. Does Nastase live from the sale of eggs from Cornu?! Rather, let's not forget that they approve rescheduling and tax exemptions of trillions of lei for some pseudo-businessmen, who move their debts from one company to another. He gives money from the public budget for money and without an auction. He is a comrade with individuals with nicknames full of meaning, such as "Spaga", "Tipsis", "Portafel", "Baron". Now, Adrian Nastase wants to be president! Is it simple ambition, is it just a fad, is it organized greed?! The PSD has given a foreign minister who claims to have raised 200,000 dollars from savings. He also claims to have dealt with Romania's foreign policy. Under Geoana's ministry, Romania is on the verge of losing access to its oil and gas resources in the Black Sea. Under Geoana's ministry, the Danube Delta has begun to die, and Ukraine is messing around at our border. Geoana has a great "merit": she talks a lot! And then he wants to be promoted– as Prime Minister. So that they can talk more and more often. In whose name?! In Romania, the reign of words must stop! Under the PSD government, the reign of words hid, through propaganda, the reign of lawlessness! Our objective, that of the D.A. Alliance and of the government that I will lead is to rebuild the well-being in this country! The PSD lies shamelessly – as always – when it says that our governing program favors only 200,000 people! The oligarchic system that the PSD has built favors a few thousand individuals, the political clientele that the party subsidizes from public money, the money of the Romanians! Romania is not a poor country. Romania is a robbed country! The oligarchy concentrates in its hands the political and economic power of a country. It uses political decision-making in favor of illegal economic benefits. True businessmen build businesses through investment, management, communication, respect for consumers. The oligarchy takes advantage and strangles the competition. On the contrary, businessmen build and encourage competition. Romania has too often become a tolerated, forgiven partner. We, those who have succeeded, want Romania to succeed as well. We are proud of ourselves. We want to be proud of our country. I succeeded in business! My businesses have always given me independence fromof any political clientelism. The competence, the power of work and the education I received, are my personal investment in the mandate of Prime Minister! What do I want to gain from this "investment"? I don't need money! I don't need honors! I don't need strength! My gain will be the satisfaction that I have fulfilled my mission: to get the country out of the dead end in which the PSD has brought it, to stimulate Romanians to know success! The governing program of the D.A. Alliance opens the way to the reconstruction of welfare! A program that has a liberal and a social-democratic component favors the entire society. Of course, he is not good for the PSD oligarchy and clients, as well as for those who quarrel with the law. The liberal component brings Romania chances for all, the repositioning of the state in relation to the real economy, investments, private initiative, more jobs, real incomes. Taxes should become a contribution, not an obstacle! The social-democratic component brings a responsible social policy. The state should ensure quality services in the fields of health, education, pensions, social aids. Social policy is not made with handouts, but with medium and long-term programs. The PSD, with all its populism, was unable to conceive and support an anti-poverty strategy! Both the liberal and the social-democratic components aim to fight corruption. Notit will be an easy task, because under the PSD government, corruption has spread throughout Romania. But without getting rid of this scourge, it is impossible for any party to bring well-being to Romania. Corruption hinders the market economy and parasitizes social policies. That is why the PSD's claims to bring well-being to Romanians' homes are without any foundation! The party of Iliescu, Nastase, Geoana and company is a party built through clientelistic networks and corruption! PSD needs corruption to survive. That's why he needs to stay in power – his clientele would suffocate and lose money in opposition! Ladies and gentlemen, As I have said before and I will repeat it, in its greed for power and money, the PSD has raised obstacles not only to the well-being of Romanians, but also to Romania's European integration. That is why our warning is that the national interests of our country are at stake! The Nastase administration and the PSD want to make the issue of European integration an electoral slogan. In fact, PSD is the main obstacle to Romania's democratic integration into the European Union. The first obstacle raised by the PSD on Romania's way to the EU is generalized corruption. "A country left prey to corruption does nothas what to look for in the EU" – this is the polite but firm message presented on various occasions by European officials. PSD constantly ignored them! European leaders are giving veiled warnings for now, because their national interests are not yet at stake and they are still waiting for a change. This change cannot happen with PSD, because it only defends the interests of its clientelistic oligarchy. Adrian Nastase deceives Romanians when he says that he can bring Romania into the EU. As head of the PSD, the patron of corruption will go down in history as the author of the failure of EU integration, if he is left in power for another four years! The second obstacle to Romania's path to the EU raised by the PSD is the oligarchy that controls the main political, economic, financial, press and secret service levers. The European Union is a community of democracies, not oligarchs. There is a public control of power there! The Romania of the PSD oligarchy will always be at the door, receiving diplomatic ravages! The PSD cannot give up the oligarchy. Adrian Nastase bases his power and arrogance on the increasing control that oligarchic structures exercise over society. The third obstacle raised by the PSD on Romania's way to the EU is to keep Romanians in abject poverty anda sick dependence on state aid! The PSD did nothing to increase the standard of living of ordinary people, it had no strategy to fight poverty, being concerned only with its barons. He won't do anything anymore! At most, he will try to give a few more alms, putting new taxes on the incomes of people who work and lying in image campaigns paid for with public money. Romanians who still believe that the EU will accept the responsibility of receiving such a poor country are wrong! The fourth obstacle raised on Romania's way to the EU is the boycott of free enterprise and the competitive economy. The 2004 country report underlines that Romania, although it has received the status of market economy, cannot resist the competitive pressures in the EU. This would mean either the bankruptcy of Romanian companies, which will not adapt to the EU requirements, or the non-entry into the Union! This is, in fact, the most serious defiance for 2005-2007! The PSD is guilty of the underdevelopment of the Romanian economy and cannot do anything in the coming years to correct the situation, because it would come against the interests of its oligarchy. He gave state aid to party or contra clienteleVotes. It has divided the private sector into political clientele and private initiative exposed to an insecure and inconsistent business environment. He harassed independent businessmen in court. It has preferentially distributed funds from the EU budgets. The PSD will continue the same policy if it remains in power, so it will strengthen the obstacles to Romania's European integration. The fifth obstacle raised by the PSD on Romania's way to the EU is the undermining of Romanian democracy. Since the PSD has been in power, Romania has started to no longer meet the political criteria for joining the EU. It would be an illusion or pure PSD propaganda to say that Romania would enter the EU without a real democracy. Here are the great "achievements" of the PSD in this field: • The PSD has brought justice to its knees in front of the interests of the party and the oligarchy! He transformed it from an instrument of the rule of law into an instrument that strengthened its power, to cover up its abuses! • PSD destroyed freedom of expression, by pressuring control over the press. The PSD manipulates the public debate and cancels Romanians' constitutional rights to free expression and information. The PSD has destroyed the associative structures, constantly undermining the civil society and turning the leaders of various trade union or employers' organizations into servants. PSD undermined the systemthrough pesedization, blackmail and political pressure on the opposition. The PSD had a programmed policy of destroying the credibility of the opposition, through defamation and the creation of ghost leaders. The sixth obstacle raised by the PSD on Romania's way to the EU is the defective and infantile reporting to the EU. Although they boast about their foreign relations, the PSD leaders have failed to build a good intergovernmental cooperation between Romania and the EU member states, or the European forums, for two reasons. 1. The PSD leaders lied shamelessly abroad, to hide the lack of will to make real reforms. 2. They relied on dubious behind-the-scenes dealings that can temporarily bind some people in power at a given time, and not on serious commitments at the government level. The PSD has managed the "performance" of making a collection of criticisms in diplomatic phrases, but this does not mean that the leaders of the EU countries will override their national interests and will accept that Romania enters the Union marked by the diseases of transition. Here is just one concrete example. The PSD has made fun of the money of EU citizens, as well as that of Romanians, giving it to the local barons. How will youCould a European leader still come in front of his voters and plead Romania's cause in such conditions? Do you think that any of Nastase's supposed friends in the EU would lose their votes for the sake of Nastase's friends in Romania?! This is in fact the true balance of the so-called European policy of the PSD and not the propagandistic lies it launches! Romania comes out of the PSD government desolate! With the D.A. Alliance, with a government led by me, with Basescu as president-player, Romania has the chance to relaunch modernization and integration in Europe! Ladies and gentlemen, the trust given is a great opportunity for me. The voters' vote entrusted to the DA Alliance means a turning point for our parties. My belief is that it will be a turning point for the country. I realize that it is a unique moment for me, as a person. How to respond to this challenge? It is my nature as a liberal to take the reins in my hands and move on! It is my nature as a liberal to have the initiative and to succeed! It is in my nature as a liberal to respect my commitments to my partners! It is my nature as a liberal to face my opponents openly, through myselfInputs! I will not hide behind anyone. There are some who say that Traian Basescu is "the bad guy", and Tariceanu "also gets into the picture to improve the image". Let no one have any illusions that my politeness is the expression of any weakness! I am fair and determined! Next to Basescu there is room for fair and determined people! You don't even know how well we understand each other! But I know how to step on my feet with elegance. Careful and pressed! As an authentic liberal, I will not be a façade prime minister, an eternal spokesperson for others! This is the difference between a liberal prime minister, who will lead the Romanian Government after the November elections, and a civil servant who has twisted his career as the wind blew and it was his interest, which the PSD is putting up to cover the hidden game of the barons, wants to impress the electorate. Romania needs a free and self-confident man as prime minister! I will live up to this mission! | 2 |
Title: Their efforts have finally earned their rightful place in the history books
Leader: Erna Solberg
Location: Norwegian Maritime Museum
Occasion: Gathering for the war sailors
Date: 27 October 2016
Category: Ribbon-cutting
Dear war sailors, families, dear all,
It is an honor to be here with you today. And get to greet you in person.
It's an honour to have veteran sailors from the UK and the USA with us here today. Your presence is an important reminder of the friendship between our countries; A friendship that is just as strong today as it was during the war. Thank you for coming.
71 years have passed since the end of the war. It's a whole life. But the fact that you are sitting here today is an important reminder that the war is still our recent history.
It is our duty to never forget the effort you made and the enormous risk you took. On behalf of all of us.
Nor should we ever forget all those, all of you, who were left here at home. All the worn, everything missed. The fear of losing one's spouse, child, or parent. And the pain of doing so.
I would like to thank the Archive Foundation for the formidable job you do to uncover, document and disseminate the history of the war sailors in collaboration with the seamen's associations and contributors throughout the country.
And here today, it is natural to highlight the important work on the war sailor register. Not only will it help us remember the history of the war sailors. It will help us to remember you. The war sailors.
You are the most decorated group of all. And you were counted as a third branch of defense. But you are also the ones who had the highest casualty figures, both for men and women, of all those who participated in the war on the Norwegian side.
It was a life-threatening service. Death could come suddenly: sneaking under the water, rushing straight towards, or plunging down from the sky.
It was a strain few of us are able to comprehend. The constant fear and longing for loved ones. But also camaraderie and unity in a dangerous time. Many experienced hard skirmishes and dramatic shipwrecks. Comrades who drowned or burned to death. Impressions that never let go, and perhaps were never talked about since.
Life after the war was also hard for many. For many, peace became a new and even longer struggle. A fight for understanding and rights. A struggle that also claimed their lives.
You met a Norway that did not see you. A bureaucracy that did not hear you. Few people knew about the effort you had put in. Or what sacrifices you had made. And even fewer understood the significance. Both of what you accomplished and what war can do to a person.
Norwegian seamen transported much of the fuel to the Allied forces. You sailed with supplies and materiel to all corners of the globe and participated in a number of operations in support. So important were the Norwegian seafarers that British Admiral Dickens stated in the BBC as early as 1941 that "if it hadn't been for the Norwegian merchant fleet, we might as well have asked Hitler for his terms."
The seamen's efforts - their efforts - were crucial to the Allies winning the war. And thus because millions of people have been able to grow up in freedom. The contrast is great to the treatment many experienced when they returned home.
And it would take 68 years after the end of the war before the government issued an official apology on behalf of the Norwegian state. An apology to all the war sailors that we let down. The lack of recognition and support for so many years will forever stand as a painful chapter in our history.
Dear friends, today "war sailor" is one of the greatest honorary titles we have. Their efforts have finally earned their rightful place in the history books. The knowledge of their lives, work and sacrifice is increasing every year. Not least thanks to yourselves and your families, the Archive Foundation, the seamen's associations, historians and writers who are deeply committed to managing and telling your story to new generations.
John Michelet recently published his fifth book in the series "A Hero of the Sea". When I read the review in Aftenposten a couple of weeks ago, I sat and thought about a Wergeland quote from the book, with which Aftenposten also ended its review.
I would like to end with the same words:
"Then you probably don't say too much,
when it is claimed that no Norwegian citizen class
have made themselves more deserving of ordinary act
and honorable recognition
than the sailor's"
(Original text: "That is hardly saying too much when one asserts that no Norwegian civic class has more deserved general esteem and honourable recognition than that of the sailor.")
Thank you very much for your attention. | 0 |
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