INTRODUCTION BY ALEXANDR VONDRA

The historic first Czech presidency of the European Union is both a challenge and an opportunity for our country. It is a challenge because we are taking the helm at a difficult time in a world that is changing ever more rapidly. It is an opportunity because it gives Czech citizens the opportunity to get to know the European Union far better than they have until now. This exhibition is also up to that task – representing, as much as possible, the European Union and its member states in the greatest diversity and interest in topics.

The exhibition, "The Beauty of European Faleristics," represents individual European Union member states in an untraditional form: The honours each individual country confers for service demonstrated in all spheres of human endeavour. In this way, we have the opportunity to get to know more tangibly the faleristic traditions of individual European Union member states. Upon closer inspection, we find that these traditions are similar in most countries, because they come from similar civilisational roots.

By making reference to the beauty of individual honours and their diversity, the exhibition enables us to understand one of the foremost maxims of Europeanness - unity in diversity. It is no accident that this phrase is also the motto of the European Union. It is a reference to the fact that through the EU, Europeans have united in a common effort for peace and a certain standard of living, and that the presence of various cultures, traditions and languages is a distinct advantage for the European continent.

Alexandr Vondra
deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic