THE SLOVAK STORY OF FREEDOM
Twenty years of freedom
Twenty years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Slovakia becomes the place where an international conference of word-wide importance, the NATO Defence Ministers Meeting, takes place. Its significance is also underlined by the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of this eminent military alliance. Apart from that, 2009 is the year when the new Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has been elected and Bratislava is honoured to be one of the first places where he delivers his public address. The successful five-year performance of Slovakia as member of the community of developed countries has enabled this special gathering of ministerial delegations to take place. However, this has not always been a certainty.
After the Second World War, Slovakia became part of the so-called “Eastern Bloc” within the divided Europe. Democracy, freedom, rule of law and human rights were not guaranteed to those who found themselves on the “wrong side” of the Iron Curtain. Young people were not given the opportunity for their individual development and realization as it is nowadays. Geopolitics of the powerful states left Slovakia on the place where neither discussion nor criticism came into consideration. Twenty years ago, during the autumn period, which also meant “the autumn of totalism”, a new young generation made an end to four decades of non-democratic regime in former Czechoslovakia.
The young guardians of freedom
The values, upon which the society in Slovakia and in the Western countries is based, do not come automatically; therefore it is necessary to continually protect them. The history proved that those who had been doing so were predominantly students and youngsters. They are the particular group whose perception of the loss of freedom is the most tragic and as a result of that they are willing to fight for it in the front line.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, “The Voices of Freedom” will enable the meeting of young people from European countries to commemorate the past events and express their projection of the future. They will meet the major personalities who represent the November ’89 changes and they will be given the chance to hear their authentic statements about the situation within the society during that time. In addition, these young people will come up with a message themselves, with their own ideas about where they want the society to head and how to find the adequate answers to all-society problems of today’s world, which might seem secure at the first sight.
Twenty years of freedom
Twenty years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Slovakia becomes the place where an international conference of word-wide importance, the NATO Defence Ministers Meeting, takes place. Its significance is also underlined by the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of this eminent military alliance. Apart from that, 2009 is the year when the new Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has been elected and Bratislava is honoured to be one of the first places where he delivers his public address. The successful five-year performance of Slovakia as member of the community of developed countries has enabled this special gathering of ministerial delegations to take place. However, this has not always been a certainty.
After the Second World War, Slovakia became part of the so-called “Eastern Bloc” within the divided Europe. Democracy, freedom, rule of law and human rights were not guaranteed to those who found themselves on the “wrong side” of the Iron Curtain. Young people were not given the opportunity for their individual development and realization as it is nowadays. Geopolitics of the powerful states left Slovakia on the place where neither discussion nor criticism came into consideration. Twenty years ago, during the autumn period, which also meant “the autumn of totalism”, a new young generation made an end to four decades of non-democratic regime in former Czechoslovakia.
The young guardians of freedom
The values, upon which the society in Slovakia and in the Western countries is based, do not come automatically; therefore it is necessary to continually protect them. The history proved that those who had been doing so were predominantly students and youngsters. They are the particular group whose perception of the loss of freedom is the most tragic and as a result of that they are willing to fight for it in the front line.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, “The Voices of Freedom” will enable the meeting of young people from European countries to commemorate the past events and express their projection of the future. They will meet the major personalities who represent the November ’89 changes and they will be given the chance to hear their authentic statements about the situation within the society during that time. In addition, these young people will come up with a message themselves, with their own ideas about where they want the society to head and how to find the adequate answers to all-society problems of today’s world, which might seem secure at the first sight.
