Prime Minister M. Topolánek's address on Czech Statehood Day, 28 September 2008, in the Pantheon of the National Museum

Aside from the Day of Establishment of the Independent Czechoslovak Republic, Czech Statehood Day is the most important reminder of our existence. While 28 October is the day our modern democracy was born, 28 September reminds us of a thousand-year national tradition. I think it is appropriate on this day to remind you of the importance of the national anthem. The song, "Where Is My Home?" isn't even 200 years old. But it undoubtedly ties in to far older hymns, especially to the medieval chorale of St. Václav [St. Wenceslas]. It speaks of the "Czech lands" as something to protect, something worth loving, something that should not perish.

Today's anthem is a modern expression of this need. It expresses a shift that has occurred in the perception of statehood. The national saint has been replaced by a national renaissance. The anthem has gained a secular, folk character. But it is still the same "Czech land – my home." Despite its undisputed importance, Czech Statehood Day is still a somewhat holiday, one that remains in the shadow of Independence Day. This is partially logical, because 28 October 1918 represents a clear action, the birth of a democratic state and constitutional tradition, the beginning of the republic, whose political legacy we still endorse and carry on.

It is more complicated with 28 September. The day of the death of Prince Václav has far greater symbolic than specific importance. Historians have long fought over which year his murder actually took place. And to this day there are various opinions on the political consequences of the change in government at the time. Czech Statehood Day is simply far more difficult to grasp than the definite date of 28 October. Despite this, I would like to draw more attention to it. Symbols are important. A nation without symbols is a nation without a past, and therefore, without a future. A nation without symbols is a nation without a feeling of belonging, a nation without hope. It is not really even a nation, just a community of individuals without a deeper anchor.

When we commemorate the death of the patron saint of the Czech lands, we are at the same time, after more than a thousand years, commemorating the fact that we are part of a proud family of European nations. Not from 2004, when we joined the European Union. Not even from 1918, when the modern independent state was born. But at least from the time of the first Přemyslids. I am convinced that this turnaround in attention to traditions deeper and longer tradition than republican ones – however significant they are and will be – can help us resolve our chronic problems with identity.

Our modern history is full of traumas that are alive to this day. The years 1938, 1948, 1968 remind us of a time of degradation, failure and betrayal. The republican era is still too short for us to come to terms with its peripeteia with a sense of perspective. And when we are already commemorating older history, then especially White Mountain and the Hussite movement. These were moments that were rather painful or controversial. Somehow a timeless and positive sense of the existence of the Czech state escapes us. At the same time, the idea connected with the beginnings of its formation is still current even today.

At the dawn of Czech statehood, there were questions of its basic definitions, the basic anchoring of the Czech basin. Will we be part of Western or Eastern civilization? What place will a small nation find in Europe beside stronger neighbours? Just how far will the borders and authority of the Czech state reach?

Our modern history has related to and still relates to these paradigms. Masaryk gave us the modern state, constitutional framework and democratic traditions. However, our place in Europe, our western orientation and the concept of our own state formation was already set by the tradition of St. Václav. Even today's national anthem ties into it. "Saint Václav, duke, Czech lands," the medieval chorale begins. "And that is the beautiful land, the Czech land, my home," answers the modern anthem at its conclusion. The plea "let neither us, nor those in the future, perish" has its reflection in the introductory question of the Czech anthem: "Where is my home?"

The national anthem not only connects today with 1918. But in a deeper sense of the term, it connects the modern democracy with the beginnings of Czech statehood. It is a current expression of the original idea of Czech statehood. The anthem also connects all citizens of the Czech Republic, regardless of their age, their address, their standing in society. Just as the Czech flag or its emblem, the anthem maintains a feeling of belonging in us. In contrast to these, it is far more direct and reaches our emotions more strongly.

In contrast to other state symbols, the anthem is a living work that is constantly interpreted again and again. It is not a collectors' item that can be shined up and put in a display case once and for all. In those 90 years it has been heard in various arrangements and performances. It has been played at official events, at sporting matches, in schools, and people have sung it at home at breakthrough historical moments. Please take the recording you are about to hear today as a contribution to this great chorale. It is my honour to have initiated the recording of four versions of the national anthem under the excellent leadership of the world-famous conductor Jiří Bělohlávek.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the conductor and the performers, to thank ministers Saša Vondra and Václav Jehlička, Czech Radio, the National Museum, National Theatre and the Office of the Government for taking part in this project. I consider it to be honouring tradition, as a small gift on the 90th birthday of the modern independent state and its anthem. But also as a reminder of the roots of our identity. Our modern national existence is firmly, indivisibly tied to the song "Where Is My Home?"

This national anthem is proof that we do not have to intricately search for our national identity. It is the keystone that connects the original idea of our statehood with its modern interpretation. It can be said without exaggeration that our state and our nation will live as long as we will sing: "Paradise on earth to see!"