Liberal democracy must finally become the vital element of our society.

The time has come - and must come - for multilateral conversations about a secure peace in all of Europe.

Some fatherlands are difficult. Germany is one of them. But it is our fatherland. Here is where we live and work.

War is not the quintessential emergency in which man has to prove himself, as my generation learned at its school desks in the days of the Kaiser; rather, peace is the emergency in which we all have to prove ourselves.

Ladies and gentlemen, on the occasion of my election I received many letters from people representing all segments of the population and all professions, especially from the younger generation, linking my inauguration with great - far too great - expectations.

The secret of big and revolutionary actions also consists in discovering the tiny step that is simultaneously a strategic step, insofar as it entails additional steps in the direction of a better reality.