Events in European History
10 May 1990 Václav Havel calls for courage to look at the stars
France Lifelong humanitarian Vaclav Havel began his speech to the Parliamentary Assembly confessing how he had rejected the voice of ‘reasonable people’ who had always told him the world was divided and nothing could change. His championing of freedom of thought, human rights and democracy might have once been a dream, but that dream of “a friendly community of independent nations and democratic states” had become a reality, he said. The twelve stars of the Council of Europe symbol were a reminder that: “the world could become a better place if, from time to time, we had the courage to look up at the stars.”
