My dear fellow citizens, For 40 years on this very day, you heard my predecessors repeat various versions of the same message: that our country was thriving, how many millions of tons of steel we had produced, how happy we all were, how deeply we trusted our government, and how radiant our future appeared. I do not believe you chose me for this office so that I would also deceive you. Our country is not thriving. The vast creative and spiritual potential of our nations is not being used wisely. Entire sectors of industry are turning out products that nobody wants, while we lack the things we truly need. A state that calls itself a workers’ state in fact humiliates and exploits its workers. Our outdated economy squanders the limited energy resources we possess. A country that once took pride in the education of its citizens now spends so little on schooling that it ranks seventy-second in the world. We have polluted the soil, rivers, and forests handed down to us by our ancestors, and today we have the most devastated environment in Europe. Adults in our country die younger than in most other European nations. Allow me a brief personal remark. When I flew to Bratislava not long ago, I found a moment during my meetings to look out of the airplane window. I saw the industrial complex of the Slovnaft chemical plant and, directly behind it, the vast Petržalka housing estate. That sight alone was enough for me to…