Projev na konferenci o izraelské národní bezpečnosti – 7th Annual Herzliya Conference on Balance of Israel´s National Security.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The European, and also the Czech, involvement in buttressing the stability of the Middle East and in the peaceful resolution of the conflicts in the region is, and should be, dictated not by humanitarian or ideological considerations, although they, too, play a role, but primarily by our own European, and national, interests. It is essential, time and again, to clearly identify those interests, in order to arrive at a realistic and constructive political and diplomatic position. In my view, our interests can be grouped into four categories:
Security interest
The security of the European continent is inseparably linked to the security in the Mediterranean region. Many of the threats and conflicts and wars in Europe took place in the Mediterranean, across the Mediterranean and over the Mediterranean. Following the end of the Cold War, new security risks and threats emerged in the form of terrorist activities by non-state actors trying to abuse legitimate political and religious concerns, state-sponsored terrorism, failing states, political regimes based on political or religious fanaticism and intolerance, etc. Some of these threats stem from this region. Europe is too small and crowded a place to try to fight these threats, once they materialize, on its territory. They need to be contained where they originate and their root causes addressed.
In the 20th century the security of Europe was also inseparably linked to the United States, a newly emerged power with European origins. Nowhere in Europe are we more aware of this fact than in a country like mine, which came into being thanks to the American intervention in World War I, and which, after twice loosing its freedom before the onslaught of totalitarianism, has twice regained it largely thanks to the American support for the cause of European freedom and security. This is the bond that we think we should cherish and protect at all costs.
The United States interests are impacted by the situation in the Middle East as profoundly and acutely as the European interests. Some of the problems in the region, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are so persistent and so intractable, that the only possibility of a meaningful outside contribution to their resolution is a coordinated or joint American-European role. And conversely, it holds that a failure to act in this way or, even worse, working at cross-purposes, could affect catastrophically the stability and the security of the Middle East, Europe and America alike. The architecture of the Quartet has helped to minimize this risk, and can do so in the future as well. Diplomatic initiatives outside the Quartet framework stand little chance of coming to fruition. The role of the European Union is crucial for maintaining the stability, both through providing economic and humanitarian assistance and through its presence on the ground in the form of the EU BAM mission in Rafah and the main part of the UNIFIL+ in Lebanon. Cooperation with the willing and able partners in the region and their eventual incorporation in the European and Euroatlantic security architecture can also contribute to the stability and peace in the region. It is my pleasure to say that Israel has become the leading country in the region on this path as the first country to have signed the Individual Cooperation Plan with the Atlantic Alliance within the framework of the Meditteranean Dialogue Program. As, among others things, the honorary president of the Czech Atlantic Association I also have the pleasure to greet the Atlantic Forum of Israel, some of whose leading members are present in this room, as the new observer member of the Atlantic Treaty Association. In our modest capacity as the NATO Contact Point Embassy in Israel it has been for the last two years our pleasure to be able to support and facilitate the process of building stronger ties between NATO and Israel. As we will continue in our NATO Contact Point role for another two years, we hope to witness further deepening and strengthening of the ties between Israel and NATO and the first practical results of this cooperation.
Economic interest
The European economic interests in the Middle East are just as essential as our security interests. In fact, the two are intertwined. Europe today is an industrial, financial and service superpower whose continuing prosperity depends on a liberal international trade environment and on its continuing access to energy resources, given their relative scarcity on the continent itself. There are two primary regions Europe buys its energy from – the Middle East and, for the Eastern part of the continent, including the Czech Republic, the countries of the former Soviet Union, first and foremost the Russian Federation. Both of these areas have recently shown some signs of bottlenecks and instability, leading to a sharp increase in energy prices followed by a milder decrease, and to a perceived sense of a less than total energy security in Europe. Some of the causes of this instability are linked to political issues. The only sensible strategy for Europe in this situation is to maintain this basic diversity of its energy supplies, and of course to develop new indigenous energy resources as well. This again means investing in the stability of the Middle East.
Political interest
The third, not always acknowledged, pillar of the European interest is political. Once again, we in the Central and Eastern Europe have a recent and vivid experience with discovering and enjoying the benefits of democracy and freedom, both in our domestic and foreign policy. True, even democracy has its flaws and sometimes it takes seven months to form a stable government. But we also have recent and painful memories of the absence of freedom, of the logic of totalitarianism. Our natural partners and allies are countries which espouse the same political principles and the same democratic values. And given our historical experience, we cannot treat but with the deepest suspicion and revulsion countries, whose leaders proclaim the supremacy of one, everlasting and unchanging truth, who suppress and persecute anyone with a different concept of the world, who incite and call for the extermination of other states, nations, and beliefs, and who accompany their rhetoric by the support of terrorist groups and aggressive military build-ups, including the effort to obtain nuclear weapons. We had been there before and we do not want ever to be there again.
Historical-cultural interest
Last, but definitely not least, there is our historical-cultural legacy and affinity. The Middle East has given birth to the three great monotheistic religions. Although all three have shaped the history and culture of Europe in various places and at various times over the centuries, we speak of our civilization as a Judeo-Christian civilization, because the precepts of Judaism and Christianity, along with the political legacy of the Antiquity, are the ones clearly reflected in our moral and legal norms, in our institutions, in our culture and in our thinking. Whether or not this imprinting will be explicitly expressed in any future European constitution, it will remain a part of our awareness for a long time to come. For it is this that makes Europe Europe, rather than an anonymous promontory at the end of the vast Eurasian land mass.
Our legacy is not only the legacy of our achievements, but of our failures as well. The existence of large and vibrant Jewish communities, which had so enriched our thinking, art, economy and science over the centuries, is unfortunately a thing of the past due to centuries of antisemitism which, when multiplied by the fanatic zeal of the Nazis, resulted in the horror of the Shoa . To preserve our own cultural legacy we must continue to be aware of our responsibility for this and of our resulting responsibility for the welfare and security of the independent Jewish state. I am proud to say that in my country this sense of responsibility predates World War II, and the Holocaust. It happens to be exactly eighty years ago that Thomas Garrigue Masaryk, the first President of an independent, democratic Czechoslovakia, and a lifelong campaigner against antisemitism, intolerance and totalitarianism, visited the British Mandate Palestine as the first European head of state, to express his support for the vision of a homeland that the Jews could call their own. From this podium, let me express my happiness that this vision came true. And let me also express my personal thanks to Uzi Arad and the Herzliya conference for giving me the opportunity to share my views with such a distinguished audience.