Príhovor ministra obrany SR Juraja Lišku

Príhovor ministra obrany Slovenskej republiky Juraj Liška, ktorý odznel počas smútočného rozlúčkového obradu s obeťami tragického leteckého nešťastia.

 

Vojaci,

 

pred polrokom ste sa s touto krajinou lúčili na česko-slovenskej hranici. Bol som pri tom, keď sme Vás v mene Slovenska posielali tam, kde je potrebné chrániť životy nevinných ľudí. Pamätám si odhodlanie vo Vašich tvárach. Navždy mi pred očami ostane hrdosť, s ktorou ste sa postavili k tejto výzve. Boli sme na Vás pyšní.

 

Naposledy sme sa videli pred Vianocami. Tam, kde ste spolu so svojimi kolegami strážili krehký mier Kosova. Vaša prítomnosť dávala kosovským a srbským matkám nádej, že sa ich deti vrátia zo školy živé a zdravé. Vrátili sa a vracajú sa. Aj vďaka vám.

 

Slovensko je taká malá krajina, až by človek rád veril, že pohromy, nešťastia a tragédie ho ani nenájdu. Zoči – voči skutočnému životu s takouto naivnou matematikou ďaleko nezájdeme. Krajiny, to sú predovšetkým ich ľudia. A prežité ľudské utrpenie robí ušľachtilé povahy lepšími. Pohľadajme aj my odvahu a statočnosť. V sebe. Budete ju potrebovať predovšetkým vy - matky, otcovia, manželky, manžel, deti, priatelia a príbuzní. To, čo vám môžeme v tejto chvíli ponúknuť my ostatní, je málo. Je to neporovnateľné s tým, o čo ste prišli. Je to neporovnateľné s tým, čo môže veriacemu ponúknuť viera v Boha. Avšak je to ponúkané úprimne a v nádeji, že prijmete našu účasť na svojom žiali. V histórii Slovenskej republiky ešte nebola taká udalosť, aby sa pod jednou strechou stretlo toľko bolesti a utrpenia, ako je tomu dnes, na tomto mieste.

 

S pokorou a nádejou, budeme dúfať, že naše povahy táto tragická udalosť dovedie k tomu, aby sme si k význačným mužom a ženám tejto krajiny pripísali štyridsaťdva mien jej synov a dcér. Nech aspoň takto ostanú s nami.

 

Chráňte si preto v pamäti každý spoločne prežitý okamih, ktorý Vám bolo dopriate stráviť pospolu. Najkrajšie z nich už teraz žiaria vo Vašich mysliach ako dobré svetlo. Nebojte sa toho. Oni by to tak určite chceli.

 

Po pol roku ťažkej a nebezpečnej práce ďaleko od svojich blízkych je návrat domov sviatočnou udalosťou. Tak tomu bolo i 19. januára večer. Na letisku v Košiciach, kde sa na Váš prílet tešili tí, ktorých k Vám spája puto najcennejšie – láska. Deti sa od nedočkavosti nevedeli zmestiť do kože, ženám všetko vypadávalo z rúk, muži nedokázali ani sedieť, ani stáť. Kým sa zvítajú, počítajú minúty. Osud však rozhodol inak. Cestujúcich neprivítalo svetlo letiska, ale svetlo večné. Na takúto obetu neboli pripravení oni sami, ani my. Keby sme čas mohli vrátiť späť, čo všetko by sme si mali dopovedať... Táto udalosť nám ukázala aký krehký je náš život a aké nevyspytateľné sú cesty Prozreteľnosti.

 

Aténsky vojak Diomedón priniesol do Atén správu o víťazstve nad Peržanmi a od vysilenia umrel. Prežil bojovú vravu, avšak tých štyridsaťdva kilometrov z bojiska do Atén ho stálo život. Štyridsiatim dvom z Vás nebolo dopriate doručiť svoje posolstvo osobne. Avšak zvesť o tom, že Vaša misia bola splnená, k nám dorazila. Splnili ste ju zodpovedne. Statočne. S každodenným nasadzovaním života. Tak, ako to od Vás žiadala vojenská prísaha. Viem to. Vedia to aj obyvatelia Kosova. Bez Vášho pričinenia by dohody veľkej politiky ostali len bezmocným papierom. Vyslovujem Vám pochvalu a uznanie pred zrakmi celej krajiny. Vyslovujem Vám vďaku a hold v mene všetkých ľudí, ktorí dokážu odlíšiť dobro od zla. Ak dnešné Slovensko na pomoc mieru vo svete vedelo postaviť štyridsaťdva takýchto vojakov a vojačiek, nie je to malá krajina. Sme na vás hrdí!

 

Vojaci,

 

všetky rozkazy svojich veliteľov ste splnili. Splniť posledný vám nebolo dopriate. Ten rozkaz znel – vráťte sa domov! Živí a zdraví. Chcelo by sa mi na jeho splnení trvať. Nedá sa mi. Sú aj vyššie sily, ako je sila rozkazu.

 

Odpusťte, vojaci moji.

 

Tento týždeň sme slávili sviatok svätého Timotea a svätého Titusa. Spolupracovníkov apoštola, svätého Pavla, hlásateľov radostnej zvesti, ktorá všetkým hovorí: „Nebojte sa!“.

 

Na týchto slovách s dôverou nesme nádej na stretnutie s nimi, i našu bolesť. Až kým ju nezahojí milosrdný Pán času a večnosti. On často, až po rokoch udelí netušené dary a nečakané odmeny tým, ktorí klesali pod ťarchami jeho kríža, nesúc na perách jediné slovo v jedinej otázke: „Prečo...?“.

 

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Speech by the Minister of the Defence of the Slovak Republic Juraj Liška that was delivered at the farewell ceremony for the victims of the tragic aircraft disaster.

 

Soldiers,

 

Half a year ago you took said farewell to this country on the Czecho-Slovak border. I was there when we were sending you, in the name of Slovakia, to where it was necessary to protect the lives of innocent people. I remember the resoluteness on your faces. The pride with which you faced this challenge will for ever remain before my eyes. We were proud of you.

 

It was before last Christmas that we saw each other for the last time. It was in that place where you, together with your colleagues, were protecting the frail peace in Kosovo. Your presence gave Kosovo mothers the hope that their children would return from school safe and sound. They did return and still do. This is also thanks to you.

 

Slovakia is such a small country that one would like to believe that catastrophes, disasters and tragedies will not find it. But face to face with real life we will not get far with such naive mathematics. Countries primarily mean the people in them. And any suffering gone through makes noble characters even better. Let us, too, search for courage and bravery - in ourselves. You will need it above all, you mothers, fathers, wives, husband, children, friends and relatives. What the rest of us can offer you now is very little. It cannot be compared to that which you have lost. It cannot be compared to what belief in God can offer to a believer. It is offered, however, in all sincerity and in the hope that you will accept our participation in your sorrow. In the history of the Slovak Republic there has never happened any event such where so much pain and suffering have met under one roof as today in this place.

 

In humility and hope, we hope that this tragic event will lead to including the forty-two sons and daughters of this country among the names of its most eminent men and women. May they, in this way at least, remain with us.

 

Retain in your memory every moment that you lived together, that was granted to you to spend together. The most beautiful of these are already now shining in your minds like a good light. Do not fear these moments. The deceased would certainly have wanted it in that way.

 

After a year of hard and dangerous work far away from one‘s nearest, the return home is a festive event. This was what it was like on that evening of 19th January in Košice airport, where those with whom you are joined by the most precious bond – love, were looking forward to your arrival. The children were extremely restless, everything was falling from the women’s hands, the men could neither sit nor stand. They were counting the minutes until they could welcome them. But Destiny had decided otherwise. The passengers well not welcomed by the airport’s lights, but by eternal light. They themselves were not prepared for such a sacrifice, and neither were we . If we could turn back time, how many things would there be to speak about .... This event has showed us how frail our life is, and how inscrutable are the ways of Providence.

 

The soldier of Athens Diomedon brought to Athens the message of victory over the Persians, and died of exhaustion. He had lived through the turmoil of battle, but the forty kilometres from the battlefield to Athens cost him his life. You, the forty-two, were not given the opportunity to deliver your message in person. However, the news that your mission was fulfilled has reached us. You fulfilled it with all responsibility - honestly - putting your lives at stake daily, exactly as you swore in your military oath. I know this; the inhabitants of Kosovo also know it. Without your efforts, grand policy agreements would remain simply powerless paper. I declare to you my acclamation and acknowledgment before the eyes of the whole country. I express my thanks to you and pay tribute to you in the name of all who are capable of telling evil from good. If today’s Slovakia could post forty-two such soldiers, men and women, to build peace in the world, then this is no little country. We are proud of you!

 

Soldiers,

 

You have fulfilled all the orders given by your commanders, but to fulfil the final one was not permitted. The order was – return home! Safe and sound. I would love to insist on its fulfilment, but I cannot. There are higher forces than the force of a command.

 

Forgive, my soldiers.

 

This week we celebrated the holidays of Saint Timothy and Saint Titus. The fellow workers of Apostle, Saint Paul, the herald of the good news which says to all: "Fear not!"

 

Based on these words, let us bear with trust the hope to meet them again, and let us bear our pain. Till the time when the merciful Lord of time and eternity heals it. He often, even after many years, grants unforeseen gifts and unexpected rewards to those who are bent under the weight of His cross, bearing on the lips a single word in a single question: "Why” ... ?