Good afternoon on this festive day, dear fellow citizens,

Let me join you all in your New Year’s wishes to your families, your dear ones and friends, and your colleagues at work. My sincere wishes go to each and every one, to all citizens of Slovakia, as well as to all those who are visiting Slovakia at this time or who live in our country:

May all your wishes and plans come true. May we be blessed with good health. May we be able to give love and understanding throughout the year – including to those around us who are less fortunate. Let us be human, selfless, polite and considerate to each other, so that good prevails all around.

I would especially like to extend my greetings to those who were less fortunate last year, be it the ill, people in need, the forlorn and forgotten, or those of you affected by a misfortune or by suffering. May the New Year be better for you than the one which has just ended.

Let us also jointly wish a good year for our country, our beautiful Slovakia. As with anywhere in the world, our traditions and emotions connected with the New Year’s arrival are so strong and unique that they overshadow the tradition and emotions linked to today’s national holiday celebrating the foundation of the Slovak Republic. In spite of that, or maybe because of that, let us dedicate a part of our New Year’s thoughts, wishes and commitments to our Slovakia, so that it becomes a country where words like justice, freedom, honour, duty, compassion and hope carry weight and enjoy the respect they deserve.

In my New Year’s address last year I said we were entering into a pre-election year, and expressed my wish and hope that 2015 would bring new opportunities to discuss the governance of our state and the functioning of its institutions, as well as to suggest solutions, and I also encouraged you to exert effective pressure on politicians so that improved governance features high on their agenda.

We all have our individual dreams, wishes and desires. I nevertheless think that some of these wishes and desires are shared across Slovakia. Our people want to live in freedom, they want to feel secure, they want to earn their daily bread in dignity, they want their children to attend good schools, and they want access to quality healthcare regardless of their social standing or the region in which they live. Those in business, either as self-employed or through small enterprises, should be able to do so without unnecessary red tape and obstacles. We want a just state governed by the rule of law which guarantees and enforces the equality of all citizens before law. So that each and every decent fellow citizen can say: this is my state, this is a state I trust.

A large part of the past year was marked by various themes and events, whether domestic, European or global. Rightfully and understandably so. However, I think that these themes and events watered down, a little too much, the attention we ought to have paid to our domestic affairs.

We are and we want to remain an integral part of the European Union and of the functioning Schengen area. It was therefore only natural that we became a part of the wider discussion and that we also shared concerns as to how Europe can face the tide of refugees and migrants. However, as a country, we have not been affected by this phenomenon to an extent which would justify apprehension of economic, social, cultural or even imminent security threats of dramatic proportions. I do not think there was reason for this particular topic to oust our domestic issues to the periphery of interest.

Being a part of Europe, we all felt the blows of terrorism directly in our continent. However, the recent attack in Paris was not the first in Europe. Before that there was London and Madrid and alongside and before that, there has been a long dark history of this kind of barbarism here in Europe. The attempt to link the attack in Paris and the almost every-day terrorist attacks beyond the borders of Europe with the current wave of refugees and to present it as a direct cause of terrorism is tantamount to political manipulation. In fact, this linkage plays into the hands of terrorists because their agenda is to spread fear across Europe and the world, to encourage political extremism and to stir mistrust among people. We must not let them do so and so we have to find ways of defending ourselves. For if they succeed, vigilance and fear will cease to be the servants and instead become the sole masters of our decisions.

Let us try to think about this any time we see resentment, open or hidden animosity or intentionally fuelled fear making their way into our vocabulary and attitudes during public and political discourse. Sadly enough, the discourse last year was marked by frequent manifestations of open hatred. Hatred toward each other, hatred to different opinions, hatred toward those around, and hatred toward whole groups of people.

Dear fellow citizens,

Our country is bracing for two significant events this year: parliamentary elections and historically Slovakia’s first presidency in the European Union.

I think there is still enough time for the March parliamentary elections to become a plebiscite on what needs to be done on the domestic front. Let us use the remaining time to focus our attention on domestic needs and responsibilities.

Last year, Slovakia achieved solid growth and the economy generated new jobs. In the weeks to come, you will frequently hear the representatives of political parties and candidates for election discuss the past years’ successes and failures. However, if we say that Slovakia is presently in good economic condition, then the time is ripe to decide where we need to step up our efforts, where we need to invest, and what Slovakia’s priorities should be.

We often say, and often find assurance in the knowledge, that people are the biggest gift and asset of Slovakia. At the same time we, as the state, have been neglecting, for a long time now, what people consider to be the most important. Let me highlight two areas where the neglect is most visible and which deserve discussion as a matter of priority.

According to an analysis, curable illnesses claim 3,000 more lives each year in Slovakia than in the Czech Republic. I personally know of such sad cases. At the same time, the amount of money we spend on healthcare is comparable with what our neighbours spend. This begs the question of whether – against the backdrop of discussions about tightening our security – we actually know where the threat to the lives of our people really lies.

There seems to be no other sector in this country which is affected by arbitrariness, systemic chaos, non-transparent interests, cronyism and disorder as much as the healthcare system is. I have spoken about it repeatedly during the past year and a half in our parliament. And I will keep on repeating that the state and its institutions have no excuse. The state has so far been embarrassingly failing in this field. As a matter of fundamental respect towards the people of Slovakia, the future government and parliament must put order and transparency in the healthcare sector at the top of their list of priorities.

The second priority for which I would like to plead is not as apparent as the healthcare sector. But it is about our children and their education, which begins at primary schools. There were times when a primary school teacher enjoyed natural authority. Nowadays, as society, state and country, we show no respect for the teaching profession. In the past, the quality of our primary schools was good and comparable with many other countries. Today, Slovakia is lagging behind in international comparisons.

The world is changing very fast and the demands we place on our children are changing in terms of what they need to know to make it in life. We may not be aware of it, but it is a fact. Today, more than ever before, the truth is that no secondary school can make up for the schooling omissions and failures of primary schools. We may not admit it, but it is true that parents do not have as much time as they used to have or as they would like to have – they have many more duties, responsibilities and concerns in terms of keeping their families economically viable. It also looks as if a less fortunate or bad economic background can be a precursor for a child’s underperformance at primary school, which, in turn may mar his or her opportunities to get out of this vicious cycle. Let’s not be mistaken, this does not apply solely to the Roma population, and is something which a modern country must consider as being unacceptable and shameful. I have to point out this issue in all seriousness and to reiterate today that we must no longer postpone the making of education in general, and of primary education in particular, our priority.

As in any democracy, parliamentary elections give people a chance to decide whether they want continuity, a change, or something in between. Whether they are basically happy or whether they think their country needs to step up. For many a voter the choice of whom to elect is not always ideal, but what is always very important is that you should not give up on your right. Do not let others decide for you.

Dear fellow citizens,

Ten years ago we, as Slovakia, decided to join the European Union. This year, Slovakia will take EU presidency for the first time in history. Could we possibly have imagined back then that our country would preside over 28 EU Member States with 500 million inhabitants?

I wish and also hope that in this role we, the Slovak Republic, will contribute towards delivering what Europe and its citizens need the most these days: restored self-confidence in Europe’s ability to cope with all challenges, from accelerating economic growth to ensuring effective protection of our external borders. Restored self-confidence at home, in Member States, and in Europe as a whole. Because our Europe of 500 million has enough possibilities to face these challenges. So that in the future, if our grandchildren are to ask “How come we failed?” we will not have to answer by saying “Well, such were the times”. For they would respond, and rightfully so, that “You were the ones who shaped the times you lived in”.

Dear fellow citizens,

The most beautiful festive season is behind us. Christmas and the last hours of the Old and the first hours of the New Year are connected with understanding, humanness and hope. We are more sensitive than any other time to the strength of positive emotions and the real values of life. Those for whom this festive season has not been entirely happy and merry for various personal reasons also harbour hopes and desires. All of us need them. We need them in our families. And we need them as a country so that things move in the right direction.

My wish to you, and to all of us, is that we take the right decisions this year. In our families and at work, but also together, as a country, the Slovak Republic. So that this time next year we can say: we have managed. We have contributed towards making sure that understanding, respect, politeness, compassion and hope, as well as the values of freedom and justice, carry the weight they deserve both in Slovakia and in Europe.

All the best and Happy New Year 2016.