Speech of the Prime Minister of the CR Mirek Topolánek on the Opening Ceremony of the 9th Year of the Festival "Days of Czech and German Culture"

Dear prime Minister, dear guests,

I feel honoured to have an opportunity to open together with you the ninth year of the festival Days of Czech and German Culture, a festival which will be proceeding for two weeks not only here in Dresden, but in the entire territory of the Euroregion Labe/Elbe.

I would like to thank here organizers of this action – the state capital, city of Dresden, the Czech Centre in Dresden and the Foundation Brücke/Most.

I would like to thank them for enabling this unique festival to be held, which is the greatest integral presentation of the Czech art and culture in Europe.

It is symbolical that this festival is held just in the river basin of Labe/Elbe – a big river of Czechs and Germans, river that joins us both in good and bad times as it was in case of floods, when devastative element was destroying first Prague and then Dresden.

I mentioned here floods – that unwelcome episode - to support with evidence how closely we are conjoined.

We have been from time immemorial conjoined just through our culture. There was always crowded in our Central-European space to paddle our own canoe. The Czech and German cultures and especially the Czech and Saxony cultures have been living side by side for centuries, they influenced each other, and they conditioned each other. Even the strange 20th century does not change anything in my words.

Prague and Dresden are close each other not only along the river. We mutually know our sights – the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, the National Theatre, as well as the Zwinger, the Frauenkirche, the Semper Opera House. Days of Czech and German culture are an example of a term which is not very nice – cross-boarder cooperation. It is not very nice term because it evokes existence of some frontiers, some barriers, and we want to remove barriers in Europe after all, not to confirm them.

That is why I like the symbol of the big common river. The river joins us. The river runs regardless frontiers, regardless history, injustices, and reminiscences. And ideas, works of art, people and goods run in the same way. It is a result of European freedoms.

For that matter, just the common development and culture influence of the Czech and Saxony regions is evidence of the fact that no frontier, no barrier, not even the language barrier, can divide us.

We have been part of Europe for centuries; we are using the same culture code on both end of the river of Labe/Elbe. We are part of the European Union. Starting from the New Year we will be part of the common Schengen Zone and only after that the Berlin Wall of ours will fall.

The last formal barrier will fall, which divides us. Nevertheless, it is just this festival which shows that there are much more things that join us than those division lines; and not only factual lines but also psychological ones. This festival goes just in this direction. I thank once more organizers for their excellent idea and for their good work.