Looking back. Looking ahead. 2020-2025

POLITICS AND SOCIETY | SPEECHES   191 We must do everything we can to prevent any developments that could enable the rise of radicals or the undermining of our democratic principles. Never again war, Ladies and Gentlemen – that is the pledge   of democratic nations. Let us not forget that we live in a Euro- pean Union which has long resolved conflicts at the negotia- tion table – and not on the battlefield! Our task is to advance and strengthen a united Europe that guarantees peace and strong democracies. Ladies and Gentlemen! I would like to leave you with a quote from Prof.W ł adys ł aw Bartoszewski, a former Auschwitz prisoner who later became Poland’s ambassador to Austria and Poland’s foreign minister: “Millions of people around the world know what Auschwitz was. But it is ultimately our decisions that will determine whether such a tragedy is ever repeated – this must be firmly anchored in our consciousness and collective memory. This tragedy was caused solely by human beings – and only human beings can prevent it from happening again”.