The Advocates of Silence
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012Thank you so much for this great honor. The late Axel Springer had four guiding principles, which he later extended to five after the terrorist attacks of September 2001. I want to begin by reminding you of them.
Unconditional commitment to German reunification, which he changed to European Union after 1989;
Reconciliation of the Jews and the Germans and support for the state of Israel;
Rejection of any kind of political totalitarianism;
Defense of the free social market;
Support of the transatlantic alliance and solidarity with the USA on the basis of shared values of freedom.
It is about the third and the fifth of these priniples that I wish to speak to you tonight. In particular, I want to talk about the freedom of speech – and the loss of freedom that comes with that silence. [...], for more click here