Speech by President Donald Tusk at the ceremony of the 10th anniversary of the independence of Montenegro

This is an English translation of the speech, President Donald Tusk delivered the speech in Montenegrin at the ceremony:

Only those nations who have a memory, are great nations. Today, Montenegro is celebrating its' 10th Anniversary of Independence. This independence is possible only because Montenegrins remember their beautiful, and at times tragic history. Today we recall your heroes and leaders, those from Petrovicie Njegoše times, the insurgents and soldiers from the twenties of the last century, and those from the Second World War.

The greatness of a state is not determined by its territory, nor is the greatness of a nation determined by the number of its people. Today we say " the great Montenegro", because its greatness is not determined by kilometres or demographic statistics, but by the prowess, pride, wisdom, patience and hard work of Montenegrins.

You remained brave throughout the centuries, protecting your independence even in the worst of times. You showed what pride means, also in the last years. You did not want pittance from anyone, you did not want to get anything for free. The only thing you expected were the respect and understanding for your ambitions. Big, yet justified ambitions. And today you rightly enjoy the respect and recognition of all Europe, of all the international community.

But only prowess and pride are not enough. What is also needed are wisdom and patience. You have proven that you show those qualities, too. You have built your independence wisely and patiently, without needless victims, and after gaining it, you nurtured good relations with your immediate neighbours in a most mature way. Everyone valued it highly. This is what has paved your way to NATO and the European Union.

You have also demonstrated how hard-working you are. You have built the foundations of a sound economy and become a symbol of success, not only on a regional scale. And you want more. But Montenegro does deserve more. And I am confident that your dreams about a safe and prosperous Montenegro shall be fulfilled, because you are a great nation.

Montenegrin version:

Samo oni narodi koji pamte su veliki. Crna Gora danas slavi desetogodišnjicu nezavisnosti. Ova nezavisnost je moguća upravo zato što su Crnogorci zapamtili svoju istoriju, lijepu i ponekad tragičnu. Danas se sjećamo heroja i lidera Njegoševih vremena, pobunjenika i vojnika dvadesetih godina i iz vremena Drugog svjetskog rata.

O veličini jedne države ne govori prostor, o veličini jednog naroda ne govori broj. Danas kažemo "velika Crna Gora“, jer o ovoj veličini nisu odlučili kilometri niti demografske statistike, nego hrabrost, ponos, mudrost, strpljenje i rad Crnogoraca.

Bili ste hrabri vjekovima, štiteći svoju nezavisnost u najtežim vremenima. Posljednjih godina ste takođe pokazali što znači ponos. Niste ni od koga očekivali nikakvu milostinju, ništa niste htjeli besplatno. Očekivali ste samo poštovanje i razumijevanje Vaših ambicija. Velikih, ali opravdanih. I danas s pravom imate poštovanje i priznanje cijele Evrope, cijele međunarodne zajednice.

Sama hrabrost i ponos nisu dovoljni. Takođe su potrebni i mudrost i strpljenje. Pokazali ste da imate i ove osobine. Mudro i strpljivo ste gradili svoju nezavisnost, bez nepotrebnih žrtava, a nakon njenog sticanja ste na veoma zreo način njegovali dobre odnose sa najbližim susjedima. To su svi cijenili. To Vam je otvorilo put za NATO i Evropsku uniju.

Takođe ste pokazali da znate da marljivo radite. Izgradili ste temelje za zdravu ekonomiju i postali ste simbol uspjeha, i to ne samo na regionalnom nivou. A želite još i više. Ali Crna Gora i zaslužuje više. I siguran sam da ćete ostvariti svoje snove o bezbjednoj i bogatoj Crnoj Gori, pošto ste veliki narod.