Speaker Roman Herzog on the laureate:

‘Your Majesty, in your unforgettable Christmas speech of 1994, shortly before the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, you spoke words that will not be forgotten. You said, “We cannot build bridges over broken arrows. Today is the only way toward peace and cooperation between nations. The past is not forgotten but conquered. Liberation follows oppression and reconciliation follows liberation.” […] The concept of the European Union, the tentatively last aggregate state of the European masterpiece of unity, is associated with the name of a Dutch city: Maastricht. […] We are certain that the Project Europe 2000 will again be associated with a Dutch city: Amsterdam.’