France has welcomed the first gay refugee from Chechnya. Joël Deumier, the president of French LGBT rights organization SOS Homophobie announced yesterday that France has started taking in gay refugees from Chechnya. France follows the example of Lithuania that aaaa
from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hmKV0FyVzE
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
France welcomed first gay refugee from Chechnya
France has welcomed the first gay refugee from Chechnya. Joël Deumier, the president of French LGBT rights organization SOS Homophobie announced yesterday that France has ...from
http://www.west-info.eu/france-welcomed-first-gay-refugee-from-chechnya/
Foreign Minister Gabriel on the attack in Kabul
Foreign Minister Gabriel on the attack in Kabul
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel issued the following statement today (31 May):
Zusatzinformationen
The news from Afghanistan is shocking. I condemn the attack in Kabul, in which dozens of people were injured and killed, in the strongest possible terms.
The attack was carried out in the immediate vicinity of the German Embassy. It hit civilians and it hit those who are in Afghanistan to work with the people there on a better future for the country. It is particularly despicable that these people were targeted.
Staff of the German Embassy were also injured in the attack.All staff are now safe. An Afghan security officer, who was protecting the Embassy grounds, was killed. We extend our deepest sympathy to his family. I have convened the crisis unit at the Federal Foreign Office to investigate the situation further.
Our thoughts are with the victims’ families and friends. We wish those injured a swift recovery. Such attacks do not change in any way our determination to continue supporting the Afghan Government in further stabilising the country.
from
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2017/170531_Kabul.html?nn=479796
Statement by the Federal Foreign Office on the attacks in central Baghdad
Statement by the Federal Foreign Office on the attacks in central Baghdad
A Federal Foreign Office Spokesperson issued the following statement today (30 May) on the attacks in central Baghdad in which at least 27 innocent people were killed and many people seriously injured:
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We condemn these despicable acts in the strongest possible terms, share the grief of the families of those killed, and hope that those injured will recover soon. At the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, we see once again that nothing is sacred to ISIS. It is thus all the more important that the terrorists’ control be brought to a swift end. In this regard, we stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Iraq in the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS.
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http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2017/170530_AA_Bagdad.html?nn=479796
Foreign Minister Gabriel to sign an agreement on the maritime agenda with Indonesia
Foreign Minister Gabriel to sign an agreement on the maritime agenda with Indonesia
Foreign Minister Gabriel is to meet Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs of Indonesia, for talks in the Federal Foreign Office on Wednesday, 31 May.
The two men will sign a declaration of intent on the maritime agenda. The document envisages cooperation to foster the development of maritime infrastructure, the sustainable use of the seas and the protection of marine biodiversity, as well as greater collaboration in the marine sciences.
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http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2017/170530_BM_maritime%2520Agenda.html?nn=479796
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
News story: Customer enquiry service changes
From 1 June, all customer enquiries will be handled by a new commercial partner Sitel UK.
The new contract will see a number of changes for customers. These changes help the government reduce costs and ensure those who benefit directly from the UK immigration system make an appropriate contribution.
The main changes for customers applying from outside the UK are:
- all phone numbers and opening hours will change
- the number of languages offered is reducing to 8 including English
- customers who contact UK Visas and Immigration by email will be charged £5.48
You will need to pay using a credit or debit card for contacting us by email. The charge includes the first email enquiry you send and any follow-up emails to and from the contact centre relating to the same enquiry.
The way you pay to use the telephone service will remain the same using a credit or debit card.
If you do not have access to a credit or debit card, you may choose to use a trusted 3rd party such as an agent or sponsor.
There are no changes to services if you are contacting us from inside the UK.
from
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/customer-enquiry-service-changes
News story: Customer enquiry service changes
From 1 June, all customer enquiries will be handled by a new commercial partner Sitel UK.
The new contract will see a number of changes for customers. These changes help the government reduce costs and ensure those who benefit directly from the UK immigration system make an appropriate contribution.
The main changes for customers applying from outside the UK are:
- all phone numbers and opening hours will change
- the number of languages offered is reducing to 8 including English
- customers who contact UK Visas and Immigration by email will be charged £5.48
You will need to pay using a credit or debit card for contacting us by email. The charge includes the first email enquiry you send and any follow-up emails to and from the contact centre relating to the same enquiry.
The way you pay to use the telephone service will remain the same using a credit or debit card.
If you do not have access to a credit or debit card, you may choose to use a trusted 3rd party such as an agent or sponsor.
There are no changes to services if you are contacting us from inside the UK.
from
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/customer-enquiry-service-changes
Statement by Foreign Minister Gabriel after the Berlin Round Table on Refugees and Migration
Statement by Foreign Minister Gabriel after the Berlin Round Table on Refugees and Migration
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel issued the following statement today (29 May) on the margins of the Berlin Round Table on Refugees and Migration attended by Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; William Swing, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM); Louise Arbour, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for International Migration; Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship.
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The new US Administration’s rejection of western policy consensus is only making the challenges of migration greater. Three major factors drive migration: climate change, wars, and political and religious persecution. These problems are only becoming greater as a result of the US’ new isolationism. Moreover, arms exports increase the risk of war, while ignoring climate change destroys the livelihoods of many peoples.
The Trump Administration wants to quit climate agreements, arm crisis-hit regions and ban people from certain religious groups from entering the US. If Europeans do not take a resolute stand against this today, the migration flows to Europe will become even larger. Those who do not oppose this US policy make themselves complicit.
If the US quits the agreement on climate protection, it will cause further migration flows. The link between the impact of climate change and the increase of migration flows is self-evident. The drying up of ground, lack of food and an inadequate water supply lead to famine and epidemics – and thus to movements of people, who first move from rural areas to cities and then, because it becomes too crowded there, to Europe. And in the meantime, many young and easily influenced people are, in the worst case, radicalised religiously. Those who do not recognise these mechanisms are not equal to the global challenges of politics.
Those who accelerate climate change by doing less to protect the environment, sell arms to crisis-hit regions and are not willing to solve religious conflicts by political means thus put peace in Europe at risk. The short-sighted policies of the US Administration are contrary to the interests of the European Union.
We Europeans must fight for more climate protection, religious enlightenment and fewer arms, as the Middle East and Africa will otherwise become further destabilised. Obsolescent ideas such as closing borders and building walls will not solve a single problem. We can only prevent flows of refugees from Africa and the Middle East if we work together to combat climate change, rearmament and religious fanaticism. Any other approach is wishful thinking and does not solve a single problem.
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http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2017/170529_Roundtable.html?nn=479796
Monday, May 29, 2017
The ad against terrorism that has touched the web
"I will tell God everything. That you’ve filled the cemeteries with our children and emptied our school desks. That you’ve sparked unrest and turned our ...from
http://www.west-info.eu/the-ad-against-terrorism-that-has-touched-the-web/
The failure of the redistribution plan for refugees in the EU is certified
The entire European relocation plan for refugees is failing. This is reflected in shocking numbers reported in a resolution approved by a majority in the ...from
http://www.west-info.eu/the-failure-of-the-redistribution-plan-for-refugees-in-the-eu-is-certified/
Statement by Foreign Minister Gabriel on Cannes award for Diane Kruger
Statement by Foreign Minister Gabriel on Cannes award for Diane Kruger
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel issued the following statement today (28 May):
Zusatzinformationen
Diane Kruger lends her character Katja Sekerci a moving depth and demonstrates the full range of her outstanding skills in her first German-speaking role. She provides a face and voice to Fatih Akin’s film “In the Fade”, and thus to the victims of the NSU murders. The Award for Best Actress to Diane Kruger sends a message against indifference towards the victims of xenophobia.
Finding the courage to build a modern, open society and to live together responsibly is the only answer to renewed nationalism, self‑isolation and marginalisation. It is impossible to imagine Germany and Europe without the contribution made by people who left their home countries to make their home here.
I congratulate Diane Kruger, Fatih Akin and his congenial screenwriter Hark Bohm, and the entire team involved in this film on their great success.
from
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2017/170528_Goldene%2520Palme.html?nn=479796
Friday, May 26, 2017
Arrivals from Libya reminiscent of those of Haitians in Florida
Here we publish the second part of the discussion of the migration chaos in the Mediterranean with Michael S. Teitelbaum, Foreign Affairs columnist, Harvard Law ...from
http://www.west-info.eu/arrivals-from-libya-reminiscent-of-those-of-haitians-in-florida/
Speech by Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel at the launch of the People‑to‑People Dialogue in Beijing
Speech by Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel at the launch of the People‑to‑People Dialogue in Beijing
Vice Premier Liu,
Dear dialogue participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to begin by quoting the President of the Federal Republic of Germany: “The comprehensive strategic partnership between Germany and China would be incomplete were it not to include an intensified social and cultural exchange”. That is precisely what we have set out to do. We want to add such an exchange to everything we have achieved with regard to our political and economic relations.
I am convinced that both sides only stand to gain from this dialogue and exchange of civil society. It is already taking place today, and it is being supported by many German‑Chinese friendship societies, as well as town twinning and regional partnerships.
It is also supported by university partnerships and a wide range of academic cooperation projects.
A vibrant exchange is ensured by those young Germans and Chinese who choose to enrich their academic studies by taking courses at a German partner school, or to study in Germany as part of an exchange programme – which you, Ms Liu, made a special effort to promote last year.
It is greatly enriched thanks to cultural exchanges in the spheres of music, theatre, fine arts, literature and film. These contacts, too, have become more and more intense in recent years.
Exchange is deepened by the work of Germany’s political foundations and the wide range of NGOs that examine social issues and promote the sharing of experiences in China, as well as in Germany.
All of these initiatives are brought to life by committed individuals, both here in China and in Germany. Through their passion, their knowledge, their curiosity, their creativity, and sometimes also thanks to their courage, these people make German‑Chinese relations dynamic, diverse and so incredibly enriching for everyone involved.
I therefore am particularly pleased that well‑known representatives from the spheres of culture, art, sport, foundations, education and science organisations have come here to Beijing with me.
The fact that new elements are always being added to our cooperation is further proof of how vibrant it is: Last year – thanks to your efforts, Ms Liu – a football cooperation project was launched.
In Germany, football is known as “the most beautiful triviality in the world”. For some, it is even the most important thing in the world. That said, football is also a great way to get to know one another.
Many will not know this, but the biggest fan club of the previous and current German football champion FC Bayern München is to be found not in Bavaria, but here in China. More than 130 million Chinese fans support FC Bayern, and Schalke 04 is supposed to have more than 60 million fans in China.
Sport, and especially, football, promotes exchange: players and trainers have been moving between our two countries for quite some time. Yang Chen of Eintracht Frankfurt was only the first of a series of highly talented Chinese football players to play in the German Bundesliga since the late 1990s. Shao Jiayi is remembered well, not only by fans in Munich, Cottbus and Duisburg.
With the football cooperation agreement that was signed last year, our football‑based relations are being intensified even further. The agreement between Eintracht Frankfurt and the Federation of University Sport of China that is being signed here today can also contribute to this development.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Football is of course only one facet of the wide‑ranging cooperation between our two countries’ cultures and civil societies – ties that exist today and that will grow even stronger in the future.
To get a sense of the potential and development of our relations, I would like for us to take a brief look at their history.
For example, looking back 100 years, which is only the blink of an eye in terms of Chinese history, a great deal has happened. The curiosity that both sides felt for one another has actually further increased.
In 1913, the famous German private scholar Dr Max Weber decided to make China a focus of his research. How did he do this? He sat down in the reading room of Ruprecht Karls University in Heidelberg and ordered books that would help him take an intellectual trip – not an actual one – to this country that he had no previous knowledge of.
In 1922, Guo Moruo translated The Sorrows of Young Werther into Chinese. Subsequently, the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and of course he himself, as Goethe’s Chinese translator, became famous overnight.
At the latest in 1935, the exchange took on a tangible form: the first three Chinese scholarship holders of the German Academic Exchange Service came to Germany. One of them was Qiao Guanhua, who later would become the first head of the delegation of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations and after that would serve as China’s Foreign Minister. Another one was Ji Xianlin. He studied in Göttingen, later became Vice President of Beijing University and was well‑known in China far outside his area of academic research. He described his German Academic Exchange Service scholarship as “a gift from heaven”.
Meanwhile, many thousand students have followed in the footsteps of these pioneers, thanks to scholarships from the German Academic Exchange Service, the Federal Chancellor and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. With more than 30,000 Chinese students currently enrolled at German universities, your country leads the list of foreigners studying in Germany. Chinese students are also the most successful. This is particularly true for female Chinese students.
The exchange works the other way around, as well: some 8000 students and researchers from Germany go to China every year. 1250 cooperation projects between German and Chinese universities prove that exchange has become part of everyday life, that academics from many fields in both countries are jointly studying their societies, benefiting from both an insider’s and an outsider’s viewpoint.
There is a Chinese saying that goes, “if you want to ensure prosperity for 100 years, invest in education”.
Dear Vice Premier,
we cannot, I believe, overstate the value of our civil society cooperation. It certainly does not simply supplement our political relations – it is an essential part of them!
Only through it do our relations come alive and can the individual get a sense of these relations. When our citizens make clear that they desire a closer partnership between China and Germany, then it is the duty of our governments, both in China and in Germany, to make this happen.
However, we, the governments, are not the actors. The people who make this happen are the people in our societies. The actors are the organisations, the institutions, the associations and the foundations, as well as the active citizens who are engaged in them. They shape and promote this cooperation.
Yet it is incumbent on us, the governments, to create the conditions for vibrant cooperation between our civil societies. These framework conditions must:
- promote civil society cooperation,
- enable everyone who wishes to become involved in this cooperation to take part,
- allow for freedom of expression, and thereby create a space for frank public exchange, and
- minimise all factors that may impede cooperation and exchange.
We, ladies and gentlemen, must have the common aim of constantly reducing any impediments.
One thing is clear, namely that the less impediments and obstacles there are, the easier it will be for our German‑Chinese partnership to grow.
This concerns a number of areas: Creating preconditions for civil‑society organisations to be active in the other country; enabling trips and stays abroad to take place; promoting language learning; and ensuring access to information from China and from Germany in the other country.
Against this background, it is a positive development that meanwhile all of Germany’s political foundations have been registered in China under the new law for foreign NGOs. This gives them a solid foundation for continuing to make a great contribution to social and cultural exchange – as they have of course been doing for many years.
Many other important actors in the spheres of culture, education and academia need to be successfully and swiftly registered, as well. I will only mention Germany’s Chambers of Commerce Abroad, which, after all, make a very special contribution in the area of vocational training.
Ladies and gentlemen!
China and Germany are already close partners politically and in the economic sphere, as we all know. We should now make a joint effort to improve the framework conditions, so that our societies can become ever more closely linked, as well. They must get to know one another, respect each other’s differences and, above all, come to understand one another.
The Dialogue that we are conducting for the first time today can be an important part of this effort.
I want to thank everyone involved for their commitment to German‑Chinese exchange, and I particularly thank you, Ms Liu, for hosting this meeting.
Thank you – I hope this will be the beginning of good and long‑term cooperation.
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http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Reden/2017/170525_BM_China.html?nn=479796
Thursday, May 25, 2017
The majority of Eastern-European immigrants work their hearts out from morning to night
Always involved, on time, productive and dutiful. They are not German workers, but Polish and Romanian plumbers and builders employed in the United Kingdom. Tracing ...from
http://www.west-info.eu/the-majority-of-eastern-european-immigrants-work-their-hearts-out-from-morning-to-night/
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Illegal immigrants in America that would not have been expected
Not only Mexicans, but also many Canadians are illegal immigrants in America. The news is equally surprising and authoritative, coming directly from the American Department ...from
http://www.west-info.eu/illegal-immigrants-in-america-that-would-not-have-been-expected/
Cambridgeshire Time Credits – an overview of the public health outcomes
Not only Mexicans, but also many Canadians are illegal immigrants in America. The news is equally surprising and authoritative, coming directly from the American Department of National Security. Armed with the data, it has studied a relatively unknown category ofaaa
from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXy7EHPHAAw
from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXy7EHPHAAw
Opening Statement by Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel at the Conference on the Responsibility of Religions for Peace
Opening Statement by Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel at the Conference on the Responsibility of Religions for Peace
Your Eminences,
Excellencies,
Honoured guests,
Fellow members of the Bundestag,
Ladies and gentlemen,
What an impressive sight! It is rare to see such diversity among participants at conferences here in the foreign ministry!
It also shows that we have the right idea – namely, to focus despite this great diversity of religions and faith groups, and their various traditions, backgrounds and cultures, on one issue which all religions at least profess is their common goal: the establishment of peace. I for one can’t think of any religious group which has not – in its written or oral articles of faith – set itself precisely that goal, namely promoting peace among people and above all with God. To that extent, our focus today on the responsibility of religions for peace is almost redundant. It’s something that all religions and faith communities have already agreed on.
However, in the real world it is religions that are at the heart of many a conflict, be it only because religion has been hijacked by other interests entirely, by people who clothe themselves in religiosity in order to assume political power.
So we do need to talk. But, in my view, we need to talk to each other, not about each other.
For that reason, Germany’s diplomats are very grateful that so many of you chose to attend this event. Never before have representatives of so many religions assembled here at the Federal Foreign Office. Here with us are members of the great monotheistic religions – Judaism, Islam and Christianity – as well as representatives of various traditions and movements from Europe, the Middle East and North and West Africa.
Of course – and I hope the other guests will forgive me – I would like to extend an especially warm welcome to the representatives of the German churches and religious groups, for the German Protestant Kirchentag, a huge lay-led gathering, is taking place in Berlin this week. And not just in Berlin, but also in Wittenberg, Martin Luther’s home town. I myself am a Lutheran. And I think the Reformation serves to remind us that there have been major conflicts within the Christian Church too. And not only 500 years ago.
We all still remember how Northern Ireland was divided for years by a bloody social conflict which pitted Protestants against Catholics.
And I can still remember that when I went to school the Catholic and Protestant pupils were segregated. We weren’t meant to sit together. And our parents had even been told that in the afternoons, after school, they shouldn’t play together. We didn’t actually do as we were told – which was probably a good decision!
This all goes to show that 500 years after Luther and the Reformation we have arrived at a point where we can reach out to other religions, and can of course embrace ecumenical activities in our own country. However, this anniversary also reminds us that conflicts of interest supposedly based on religion or pursued in the name of religion are not a trait peculiar to other parts of the world. Such religious strife is also part of our history.
Germany is glad that the religions are now at peace in our country. We are a country in which the state maintains neutrality on matters of religion. But it is not secular. Religion has its place in our country.
And we are glad to see the return of some of the religious life lost during the campaign of terror and extermination waged by the Nazis against Jewish citizens. We are very glad that Jewish communities have re-established themselves in our country, because it is by no means self-evident that they should.
It is precisely when I think of our own past that the title of this event, the “Responsibility of Religions for Peace”, makes me prick up my ears. For nowadays we don’t often hear the words peace and religion in the same sentence. It is unfortunately far more common to hear religion spoken of in connection with conflict or even war.
At first glance, this would seem to be justified.
– The ancient city of Palmyra lies in ruins because so-called Islamic State wishes to eradicate Syrians’ memory of a millennia-old cultural identity – basing its actions on what I at least consider to be a perverse interpretation of Islam.
– The conflict in the Central African Republic is escalating again, in part because the antagonism between Muslim and Christian militias has not yet been resolved.
– In some Asian countries religious intolerance is on the rise and at times erupts into violence. For example in Myanmar, where the Rohingya Muslim minority is being persecuted.
– Even in Europe we are confronted by assassins who carry out horrific attacks in the name of religion.
– And then there is the anti-Islamic, or anti-Muslim, violence in our countries, which threatens members of those religions.
And so here, too, we sometimes see how the old demons, most of which have little to do with religion, try to utilise religion in order to promote territorial or political interests. Thus, if truth be told, peace does not reign unchallenged here either.
The question of religious radicalisation is now very much on our radar, having played a key role in recent attacks. It is not, however, a new phenomenon.
The German Protestant Kirchentag starts the day after tomorrow in Berlin and Wittenberg. This year its focus is on the 500 years since the Reformation, on the renewal of the Church, but also on schism and violence. For a cruel war raged in Europe from 1618 to 1648, ignited and kept smouldering for religious and other motives. And as I said, there are examples enough in our recent past, too.
I'm saying this to make it clear what histories, what narratives are prone to fix themselves in our minds. For it is clear that religion polarises and is made responsible for backwardness and fanaticism, for violence and even for terrorism.
In reality, things are of course far more complex. Economic, social and political motives are often combined with religious identities to produce an explosive admixture. Religion is often exploited to mobilise groups against outsiders.
But it is true that religion polarises. Not everyone wants religion to have a greater role.
I don’t think that we have to decide here and now whether religions have a propensity to foster extremism, or are ambivalent in their effects, or have rather been hijacked when things that horrify us are done in their name.
However I do think that religious stakeholders are also political players in their societies. Anyone who is active in a religious context in a given country is also part of that society and its political life. They too are caught up in worldly affairs, they too can be enmeshed in guilt and error.
People who merely promote the stereotype that religion always makes conflicts worse are, in my opinion, making a big mistake. They block out the complexity and the ambivalent effects of religion. It is important to discover what role religious motives have had or may still play in a conflict. However, I firmly believe that we must not stop there.
We have invited you all here today because we want to look closely at the peacemaking potential of religions and at their responsibility for peace in society.
We want to raise other questions that might help us take a new and fresh look at the topic. I think it’s worth looking at the constructive potential of religion and not just its apparently destructive potential which is currently foremost in our minds. We should not only ask what religions could do to foster the peaceful coexistence of societies, but also what responsibility they bear for actually doing it!
This is not a theoretical issue. Rather, it seems to me that this is a subject we must address as diplomats of a country such as Germany, whose history is closely entwined with faith and religion, whose Basic Law stipulates that it is tolerant of and open towards all religions, but which ultimately retains state neutrality in questions of religion, according freedom to all religions in our country.
At the same time, this means that no religion is above the law in Germany. No religion is above the constitution. All religions must operate within the framework provided by the constitution. We politicians also have a a big role in explaining to everyone that freedom of religion and respect for the constitution and other laws are inseparably linked. And that this is true even as concerns those aspects of our constitution which vex some religions, such as gender equality and protections for homosexuals. These are things that have evolved in our country. They didn’t come out of nowhere. They have become part of our constitution.
At the same time, we have to explain to our populace that the words of our former President Wulff, “Islam is a part of Germany” were not just expressing a theory, but reflect our daily life – all you have to do is to walk out into the street. We have to explain that Muslims are citizens of our country with equal rights, at least that’s how we see it. Explaining to people that Islam is part of Germany is a task that we politicians have not yet managed to complete.
Perhaps it is important precisely for this reason that we, in a country where ever fewer people seem to have faith in God, should concern ourselves with the question of what impact religion has as a factor in international relations. For in fact religion is gaining significance worldwide. 80% of the world population belongs to one religion or another. In contrast to what some people think, religion is not disappearing from the modern world.
I think we must face up to this reality. We must recognise something that we here in Europe have perhaps forgotten or wilfully ignored: religion and faith are not only questions of personal identity – they also often define the realities within a society. And naturally these questions of identity and religiosity pay no heed to national borders, especially those drawn sometime in the past century with little regard for local and regional contexts.
We want to do justice to this complexity with our German foreign policy. We want to try, with you, to work out how we can unlock the power of religion wherever societies threaten to drift apart or, worse, where social conflicts flare into violence and civil war. For it is my impression that in such situations societies need a great deal of strength, a great deal of courage and a great deal of optimism in order to escape this spiral of escalating violence.
Religions can be a key motor and guide in this endeavour. Above all, they can provide optimism, for they have a profound understanding of guilt, forgiveness and reconciliation. Religious actors can experience failure and futility without sinking into despair. They can stand up for fairness and justice in their societies, where others see only friends or foes. They take a long-term view – something that is needed to foster peace.
This makes me think of the vicar general of the Syrian Catholic Church in Baghdad, whom I met recently. What a place! It probably had more walls and barbed wire than anywhere else in the world. But between these walls, in a small church, I met a visionary blessed with incorrigible optimism. In the midst of the chaos he maintained good relations with all religious groups, notwithstanding the many conflicts that existed. I was impressed.
If religious representatives, some of whom have experienced such horrors, look to the future with courage and trust in God in the truest sense of the word, that should give us courage here, too.
It also illustrates something else. Like him, many other religious leaders have a responsibility simply because their words and actions carry great weight in their communities. Because of this, religious leaders have a special responsibility not to contribute to radicalisation, division or conflict. I think that it is first and foremost this responsibility that we must address together.
Don’t get me wrong. It is still states who bear the responsibility to act peaceably in their international relations and to adhere to human rights obligations vis-à-vis their citizens at home.
When I say that religions should – and can – also assume responsibility, I am not advocating the wholesale removal of the Westphalian order and abdicating responsibility to the religions. What I am advocating is harnessing the strength, knowledge, resilience and long-term vision of religions for practical work to promote peace. Who better to do such work than those whose scriptures and faiths place such importance on peace?
The Federal Foreign Office is already working along those lines.
For example, even today, we support the Community of Sant’Egidio’s peace dialogue in Mozambique and the Central African Republic. Religious groups there have good access, which enables them to identify and negotiate concrete solutions to end the violence.
We also work with Dar El Fatwa and the Berghof Foundation and support a dialogue among Sunnis on preventing radicalisation in Lebanon – this is preventative action of a most concrete kind.
We work with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Nigeria, where we are endeavouring to mediate between Christian and Muslim groups.
Those are the kind of options we need to explore yet further. We can do that best with you. You are the real experts.
We also want to integrate such viewpoints more systematically into our foreign policy work. For the viewpoint of the Church and religious groups enriches our understanding of an increasingly complex world. It will take practice for religious leaders and diplomats to find the right forms of cooperation. It won’t come without effort. But it will come with time. I personally hope it will result in even greater religious literacy on the part of our diplomats.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We know that all of you gathered here today work for peace – in your societies and in international groups. We know that you live up to your responsibilities with authority, fixity of purpose and optimism. You have been doing this for a long time. We believe it would be good for the Federal Foreign Office and for Germany to tread this path with you, wherever possible and wherever you desire it.
What we ask of you is to share your expertise with us. Nobody knows more about how religions can discharge their responsibility for peace better than you.
These factors are what strengthened our desire to invite you to this meeting.
I am eager to see what the outcome of this first meeting will be. Do we have anything to offer that you need? And, conversely, what can you explain to us?
I trust you will view these two days as an invitation to enter into a lasting relationship, not as a one-off event. Here in this room are experienced and well-informed men and women from a wide variety of regions and religions, who could become a tremendous united force for peace. I hope you will forge lasting contacts here and build on the links you already have.
If we can do more to support your work, please let us know. And if, at the end of this meeting, you want to continue and meet each other again, then the event will have been a great success.
Thank you for coming, and thank you all for helping to make this meeting happen.
This is the challenge I would like you to rise to, the responsibility I would like you to shoulder. I have faith that you can shoulder it, even if at times some may wish to avoid it because it is so large. But I am convinced that religions must assume this responsibility and will be able to live up to it. I have faith in the great peacemaking potential of all religions.
Thank you for listening.
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Bärbel Kofler, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights, on Colombia
Bärbel Kofler, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights, on Colombia
Following a meeting with Monseñor Héctor Fabio Henao Gaviria, the head of Caritas in Colombia, and representatives of the Caritas working group on Colombia, Bärbel Kofler, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office, issued the following statement today (23 May 2017):
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I am deeply concerned by the reports coming out of Colombia on the increase in politically motivated acts of violence, especially in the areas worst hit by the conflict. There are obviously forces at work here trying to intimidate committed members of civil society and hinder the success of the peace process. However, if there is to be lasting peace in Colombia, the country needs an active and committed civil society. The Colombian Government has a responsibility to step up its efforts to halt this development and to protect its citizens from violent attacks. Germany is prepared to help Colombia master this challenging task in the fragile post‑conflict phase.
Background information:
On 24 November 2016, after more than 50 years, a peace accord was concluded between the Colombian Government and the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) rebels. This agreement has been implemented since 1 December 2016. The current demobilisation of the FARC has led to a dangerous power vacuum in the areas previously controlled by the guerillas. There are a growing number of reports that other illegal armed groups (“bandas criminales” (BACRIM), paramilitaries or the ELN) are seeking to take control of these areas and are threatening activists who, for example, are championing land rights, and human rights defenders, among others. According to a report published by the office of Colombia’s ombudsman in April 2017, there were 156 murder victims from these groups in a 14‑month period between January 2016 and March 2017. In early May, President Santos made the new Vice President, Oscar Naranjo, responsible for combating the violence against human rights and social activists.
Germany has been supporting the Colombian peace process for many years, among other things within the context of civil crisis prevention, stabilisation, post‑conflict peacebuilding and mediation and, together with partners such as Caritas, is also funding humanitarian assistance projects as well as humanitarian mine and ordnance clearance projects.
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Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Here refugees work rather than twiddle their thumbs
Denmark leads the way with respect to occupational integration of refugees. Given that, compared to the year before, in 2016 the number of refugees aged 18-59 ...from
http://www.west-info.eu/here-refugees-work-rather-than-twiddle-their-thumbs/
Google and UNHCR’s first and unique portal on the war in Syria
All you want to know about Syria in a unique website. It’s called Searching for Syria and has been launched by Google and UNHCR in ...from
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Foreign Minister Gabriel on the attack in Manchester
Foreign Minister Gabriel on the attack in Manchester
Foreign Minister Gabriel issued the following statement today (23 May) on the attack in Manchester:
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This is dreadful news coming from Manchester and a perfidious logic that targets first and foremost teenagers, children and young adults at a pop concert.
This attack hits all mothers and fathers in Europe right in the heart. What is important now is to investigate the background to the attack without delay.
But even now it is clear that terrorism remains terrorism, no matter what the motivation behind it. We stand with the British at this time and our thoughts are with the victims, their families and their friends.
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Statement by Foreign Minister Gabriel following his talks with the General Coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian opposition
Statement by Foreign Minister Gabriel following his talks with the General Coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian opposition
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel issued the following statement in Berlin today (22 May) following his talks at the Federal Foreign Office with Riad Hijab, the General Coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian opposition:
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I held important talks today with Riad Hijab, especially considering that we are in a decisive phase of the political process.
I very much welcome the fact that UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is currently trying to expedite the negotiation process. I asked Riad Hijab to play a constructive and active role in this context. Success will require a unified opposition that represents the interests of all sections of Syria’s population.
The most recent round of talks in Geneva has once again demonstrated how the regime is trying to draw out and undermine the negotiations. This means it is all the more important to have a unified and courageous opposition. The questions relating to Syria’s future are too important to allow the delaying tactics of the Syrian regime to work. The delegation of the opposition is working to ensure this doesn’t happen. They are continuing their serious and constructive engagement for a political solution to the conflict.
We’ve had, and continue to have, consensus with our international partners and the moderate opposition on this point. At the same time, we call on those who support the Syrian Regime – Russia and Iran – to work toward cessation of hostilities throughout the country so that secure and unhindered access for humanitarian assistance and aid workers can finally be achieved.
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Monday, May 22, 2017
Super American expert defends the EU-Turkey refugee agreement
The EU-Turkey agreement is a reference model to deal with the refugee crisis. Michael S. Teitelbaum, Foreign Affairs columnist, Harvard Law School researcher, and Vice-President of ...from
http://www.west-info.eu/super-american-expert-defends-the-eu-turkey-refugee-agreement/
Bal Dhillon: Inspirational Teachers Award Winner 2017
The EU-Turkey agreement is a reference model to deal with the refugee crisis. Michael S. Teitelbaum, Foreign Affairs columnist, Harvard Law School researcher, and Vice-President of the parliamentary commission for USA immigration reform is convinced of this. D. Could you pleaseaaa
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZrGE5jHB4U
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Unravelling and re-imagining the UK’s relationship with the EU
Fifty years after the historical ruling in the Loving v. Virginia case, mixed marriages account for 17% of the total in the United States. A number that is five times higher than that recorded in 1967, the year in which the Unitedaaa
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Federal Foreign Office condemns North Korean missile launch
Federal Foreign Office condemns North Korean missile launch
A spokesperson for the Federal Foreign Office issued the following statement today (21 May):
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With today’s test of a ballistic missile, North Korea has once again shown its disregard for applicable Security Council resolutions. We condemn this test in the strongest possible terms.
The international community will not slacken its efforts to call on Pyongyang to abide by its commitments emerging from the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the Treaty on the Non‑Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It must not and will not allow itself to become accustomed to the North Korean tests. We therefore welcome the fact that new measures against North Korea are been actively considered in the United Nations.
At the same time, it is clear that there is a willingness to engage in serious dialogue.
North Korea must harness this and stop defying the international order with its irresponsible conduct.
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Foreign Minister Gabriel on the elections in Iran
Foreign Minister Gabriel on the elections in Iran
Foreign Minister Gabriel issued the following statement on the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani:
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I congratulate President Hassan Rouhani on his re‑election. His victory is a sign of the broad-based support among the population for the path of economic and political openness which Iran has been following since the nuclear agreement was reached. Germany stands ready to support Iran as a partner as it continues along this road. We want to maintain this enhanced cooperation in areas such as business, science and culture.
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Friday, May 19, 2017
Half a century of mixed marriages has changed America
Fifty years after the historical ruling in the Loving v. Virginia case, mixed marriages account for 17% of the total in the United States. A number that ...from
http://www.west-info.eu/half-a-century-of-mixed-marriages-has-changed-america/
Speech by Minister of State Roth at the 127th session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
Speech by Minister of State Roth at the 127th session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
On behalf of the German Government, I would like to sincerely thank the Government of the Republic of Cyprus for its great commitment as Chair of the Committee of Ministers over the past six months.
Germany welcomes Secretary General Jagland’s current annual report. It gives us a renewed opportunity to look at ourselves in the mirror. However, the image we see there is not the one we as members of the Council of Europe should actually be seeing.
Yet again we have to admit that human rights, the rule of law and democratic rules are under increasing pressure in parts of Europe.
This cannot and must not continue!
All members of the Council of Europe have entered into concrete commitments to protect human rights, the rule of law and democracy. Moreover, they have undertaken – without any ifs or buts – to implement the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. These obligations must be adhered to. There can be no exceptions!
Exerting pressure on a critical civil society or opposition, restricting freedom of expression or freedom of public assembly or encroaching on the independence of the judiciary: none of these are compatible with the goals of the Council of Europe. Rather, they are clear violations against the letter and spirit of Council of Europe commitments and obligations and, what’s more, they are completely unacceptable.
The issue of inclusive societies also remains a priority. There can be no compromises when it comes to the human rights of refugees and migrants. When dealing with refugee movements and migration, we need greater European solidarity and we have to step up our efforts to combat discrimination, xenophobia and hate speech.
The most recent reports on barbarous crimes against Homosexuals in Chechnya are especially distressing. Those in positions of responsibility who look the other way share the blame and are betraying the values for which the Council of Europe stands. We urge the council to use the instruments at its disposal to investigate the matter.
The human rights situation in Crimea, annexed by Russia in contravention of international law, as well as in the areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by the separatists, also continues to give cause for great concern. It’s high time the Commissioner for Human Rights and the other Council of Europe monitoring instruments were granted unrestricted access to these regions. The same goes for other parts of Europe to which the Council of Europe hasn’t had access so far, be it in the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia belonging to Georgia, Transniestria or Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding seven regions of Azerbaijan. We urge Secretary General Jagland to resolutely continue his efforts.
Incidentally, we also have to ensure that the rule of law and human rights are respected in the fight against terrorism, a fight which poses a terrible challenge for us all.
Germany staunchly supports the Council of Europe’s dialogue with Turkey. We welcome the fact that Turkey has repeatedly expressed its commitment to this cooperation. We want Turkey to remain a friend and partner who upholds the standards and values of the Council of Europe. This includes first and foremost a ban on the death penalty. We therefore expect that – in everyone’s interest – this dialogue very quickly produces the urgently needed results.
Allow me to conclude on a positive note: the German Government is very pleased that the Council of Europe initiative to establish a European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture in Berlin is now taking concrete form, and that the institute will be able to commence work soon after the opening ceremony on 8 June.
We hope that it will be supported by all member states in a concerted effort to dispel prejudices and to visibly improve the inclusion of Roma, the largest minority in Europe, in future.
I would like to take the opportunity today to wish the incoming Czech Chair every success with its responsible tasks.
In difficult times we need more Council of Europe, not less. Let us all strongly commit ourselves in words and deeds to its values and standards in order to master the challenges facing us.
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"The Marshall Plan at 70: What We Must Remember and What We Must Do for the Future". Speech by Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC
"The Marshall Plan at 70: What We Must Remember and What We Must Do for the Future". Speech by Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC
Heather Conley,
Karen Donfried,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you very much for inviting me.
I am very glad that we have the opportunity to talk about the importance of George Marshall for the transatlantic partnership today. I think this is important because some people here in the US discussed about Europe as a conspiracy by Germany against the United States! So we thought it would be a good idea to show that the success of Europa was in the American interest. It is also good to remember what is possible when the US and Europe work together.
Thank you very much to the hosts, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the German Marshall Fund, for making this possible.
And thank you also that you gave me such a generous amount of time for my introductory remarks. Seriously, I am not joking! I am saying this because George Marshall was only given elven minutes when he held his famous speech in Harvard almost 70 years ago.
Actually, when I met Rex Tillerson yesterday, he showed me the original text of Marshall’s speech. Fascinating! A document of only four pages, but full of thinking that has so greatly influenced our world. Sometimes we have documents with a lot of pages, but in the end it’s the opposite of good ideas. So Marshall shows us that it is really the quality that matters.
I think it is also very interesting that this important speech occupies a prominent spot in the State Department.
With this short speech, George Marshall launched a policy that re-shaped our relations with the United States. The Marshall Plan is firmly rooted in the collective memory in Germany. It stands for the helping hand given by the U.S. to Germany, despite Germany having been responsible for so much violence and destruction.
Instead of demanding reparations, the U.S. helped us to rebuild our economy. We are still immensely grateful for this.
But the Plan’s importance goes way beyond the reconstruction of Germany. As Henry Kissinger put it: The speech marked a historic departure in American foreign policy.
The Marshall Plan set the course. My colleague Rex Tillerson told me yesterday: The US could have gone home after the World War II. But they decided to stay. And got invested in Europe – because it was in the interest of the United States to do so. This was an important and a good decision, I believe.
We are also living in a decisive period today – no, dear fans of the Washington Wizards, I am not referring to the NBA playoffs! I am referring to our transatlantic partnership!
I am convinced: We urgently need to renew this crucial transatlantic bond. Therefore, I think it would be smart to remember how Marshall helped to shape the world order that was so beneficial to the US and Europe over the last seven decades.
First, George Marshall’s policy primarily had nothing to do with altruism. It was a forward-looking policy. And a policy the U.S. adopted in pursuit of its own interests. As George Marshall put it: “It is only logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world.” And, as he then went on to say that without this economic health “there can be no political stability and no assured peace.” Today, we are in a situation where we are discussing in the US, in Europe and elsewhere in the world our defence spending. Of course, it is necessary. But if you go to the crisis hot spots of today, you will hear that sometimes military action is necessary, for example in the fight against ISIL. But once you come to a stable situation, it is necessary to build hope, especially for the younger generation. Because without economic development, you will not achieve peace and stability.
So, although the Marshall Plan focused mainly on economic issues, its political intention was also very clear: not only should the U.S. market be closely linked to European markets. In addition, the Plan was meant to promote political ties between European countries and with the U.S.
So, this is my second observation: Marshall knew that a strong and united Europe was in the interests of the United States. And it was in the interests of the U.S. to become involved in the world, not just through military alliances, but also by creating a close transatlantic community based on common interests and common values.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are of course facing different challenges today than the world was facing during the times of George Marshall. But we are perhaps in a similarly critical phase. The liberal world order that Marshall contributed so much to is increasingly being called into question.
Some colleagues who just came back from the “One Belt, One Road” conference in China told me: There was a big map on the wall showing where the “One Belt, One Road” initiative should be implemented. Asia, Russia, Africa, Europe – all where shown on the map. But not the US! Maybe the Chinese know that the rules here in the US are different from the rules in China. But I would say that the rules in Europe are also different. So when Europe and the US, two leading economies in the world, will join our hands, we can set the standards for international cooperation, not only economically. But if we fail, others will fill this vacuum. So it is absolutely necessary for us to come back on a common track. We should be ambitious enough to set the standards for the 21st century!
Of course, economic balances are shifting. Asia, for example has become a leading economic player. But we also have to realize that this world order itself is no longer accepted by all countries. More countries than before are now demanding a greater voice. They are setting up international institutions that they think serve them better than those set up in New York and here in Washington 70 years ago. And we have to realize as well that illiberal countries and systems are on the rise.
So the question is: should we just stand by and watch this happening? Or should we do everything to make this world order fit for the 21st century?
I assume that George Marshall would have taken on this task – with a lot of optimism. And he even suggests a starting point for us today. He said in his speech that “the initiative [...] must come from Europe.” I believe he was right. We as Europeans should not wait for the US government to take the lead.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
for us as Europeans to take the initiative again in our transatlantic relations, we should tackle a few things at home in Europe.
First of all, we should not lean back now that Emmanuel Macron has won the elections in France; a victory I am delighted about. This victory represents a huge opportunity for Europe but it also means a great deal of responsibility for us. We should remember that eleven million French citizens voted for an extreme-right and anti-European party. And this is a problem not only in France but also elsewhere in Europe. So we have to do a lot of things to support Emmanuel Macron, because his success is the success of Europe. If he fails, Marine Le Pen will really be the next President of France – and we would have profound problems in Europe.
We must now ensure that we strengthen Europe - and I mean all countries in the European Union - politically and economically. Germany, as a nation at the heart of Europe, will be expected to take on even more responsibility and we as Germans should be more willing to compromise.
I am also convinced that we Europeans should not waste too much energy on internal wrangling. We must instead strengthen Europe so that we are able to assume greater international responsibility for peace and security. And Washington, but also Beijing and Moscow, will have to recognize that if you want to talk to Europe, it is not sufficient to talk to Germany or France. Many want to talk to Germany, my country, because of its economic success. But Europe is much more than Germany. Europe is a very special integrated community where you have more small countries than big countries. But we In Europe have to deal with each other as being on an equal footing. We really have to speak with one voice. Because even the voice of a strong Germany will not be heard in the future, if it is a lone voice. So we have to be integrated as Europeans and we ask our partners to look at the whole range of Europe and not only individual states.
We are doing quite a lot already. For example, the European Union is working hard in Mali to help strengthen the country’s government and fight terrorism there.
Germany, too, has stepped up its international engagement. In recent weeks, I visited both Iraq and Somalia. In these countries, for example, we are helping to stabilize regions that have been devastated by ISIL and Al Shabab. Through means of stabilization and development aid, we are giving the local population better prospects for the future, and we are denying the terrorists their breeding grounds.
Our broad engagement is in part military, but it is just as much a civilian effort. Because the success of the Marshall Plan has taught us that promoting policy aims through civilian means, “soft power”, is at least as important as “hard power”.
That said, I also very much understand that the United States is asking Europe to invest more in its “hard power”, also by increasing its contributions to NATO military capabilities. This effort is already under way: Germany is spending more on defense and has increased its 2017 military budget by nearly 10%.
But we must not pretend that more military spending will automatically bring about more security and more peace.
I firmly believe that greater investment in defense must not occur at the expense of diplomacy, humanitarian aid and development aid. We need both.
And to be very honest: Spending more does not mean following utopian agendas. Spending 2% of the GDP each year would mean to double our investment in our army. That means to spend over 70 billion a year for our military. France, as a nuclear power, is spending 40 billion only. I asked Chancellor Merkel where we should put all the new aircraft carriers we would have to buy…To invest more is necessary but we should not overestimate what is necessary. Europe spends 50% of the American defence budget but we reach only 15% of the efficiency. So it is much more interesting to look at issues such as military integration and “smart spending”. That’s what we should do.
We must also refocus on diplomacy – we need a diplomatic surge. As the current U.S. Secretary of Defense said in 2013: “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition ultimately.”
Ladies and gentlemen,
Europe has to do its homework, that much is clear. Europe and the US also have to work together so that our societies can become closer again. We are facing a common problem: Our societies, whether in Europe or here in the United States, are becoming increasingly polarized internally. That is not good, for many reasons. It’s also dangerous for the transatlantic relationship.
Allow me to explain with an example. Many in Europe and in the United States are worried about their economic future. Economic nationalism is becoming more popular on both sides of the Atlantic.
I believe we must do a better job of communicating to our populations why the right answer still lies in the ideas of George Marshall – in his goal of a close economic transatlantic partnership.
When I hear that here in the U.S. there is discussion about Germany’s economic activities and the current account surplus, then I must say: We are prepared to have a dialogue on this. We will gladly explain how we see the connection of our economies. Many of the best and highest‑paid manufacturing jobs in the entire United States are created thanks to investments by German corporations. This is why a number of representatives of large German companies that invest in the U.S. are accompanying me on this trip. And we will travel on to Pittsburgh today, where we will look at how structural change can be shaped in a positive way – also with the help of German investment. By the way, George Marshall was born not far from Pittsburgh.
I am convinced that we need more and broader dialogue. This will require more than visits by ministers, or transatlantic experts convening in Washington, Berlin or Brussels.
That is why, in a joint effort with the business, academic, and cultural communities, we want to help raise Germany’s profile in the United States. I am therefore promoting, both here and in Germany, that we will have a “Year of Germany in the United States” in 2018 and 2019 – and vice versa.
It must become more normal again for younger generations to take a look at life on the other side of the Atlantic.
I want us to find new formats and ways to bring into contact the greatest possible range of people in our two societies. I want us to reach precisely those who would never think, or who could never afford, to take part in an exchange or travel program across the Atlantic.
Moreover, we have to continue to promote our established pillars of people‑to‑people dialogue. I am therefore strongly in favor of continuing our classic exchange format, the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Program.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I think that both the German and U.S. governments should commit to a new common transatlantic agenda.
We should renew the partnership that seeks to defend a peaceful and rules‑based order. For it is rules‑based international cooperation that will yield the “best deals” in the long run. Of that, I am convinced.
A partnership that fights for the separation of powers, for inalienable human rights, for the rule of law, and for representative democracy. Those values are in need of defense, today!
If we see eye to eye on this between the US and Germany, I am not worried that we sometimes disagree on specific topics.
Topics like climate change. Let me be quite frank: It is in Germany’s interest, and I believe actually in the interest of all of humanity, that the U.S. does not withdraw from the Paris Agreement. But there are understandable concerns here about possible negative effects on the U.S. economy. As a partner, we are talking with the US government about how measures to protect the climate can actually help strengthen national economic output. In Germany, we've seen this happen: renewable energies have been a positive factor for economic development. In fact, we think that measures which help us to fight climate change would be a good industrial policy even if we had not the problem of climate change. Because dealing with issues such as energy efficiency, using our resources smartly, these are issues that make our economies much stronger in the long run.
I believe that on key foreign policy issues our positions are very similar on both sides of the Atlantic. This applies to the conflict in Syria, and it also applies to policy on North Korea and on Iran. The list could go on.
However, despite having fundamentally similar interests, our beliefs sometimes differ with regard to the right strategy.
In Europe, for example, we are convinced that the nuclear deal is the best option for preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Some here in Washington are far more skeptical.
These are not trivial details. These are serious political questions. That is why these debates are so intense, and that is actually a good thing.
Yet, in the end, we should be clear about one thing: in a world that is becoming increasingly complex joint action by the United States and Europe can make a tremendous difference.
Therefore, we must renew our transatlantic partnership! Together, we must defend our liberal and rules‑based world order.
And to close with the words of George Marshall: “It is to be hoped that the democratic nations can provide the necessary leadership.” We should take his words seriously.
Thank you for your attention.
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Thursday, May 18, 2017
The State should not delegate immigration policy to NGOs
The Senate Defence Commission has unanimously approved and presented yesterday the results of fact-finding research concerning the emergency operations of NGOs in the Mediterranean. We ...from
http://www.west-info.eu/the-state-should-not-delegate-immigration-policy-to-ngos/
Speech by Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth at the Asia Pacific Lunch: "Europe at the crossroads: The challenges Europe is facing in 2017"
Speech by Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth at the Asia Pacific Lunch: "Europe at the crossroads: The challenges Europe is facing in 2017"
-- Translation of advance text --
Ladies and gentlemen,
The best and most remarkable lessons on Europe are usually the ones I learn in discussions with colleagues who don’t come from Europe. The view from the outside is often clearer than it is from the inside. And with that in mind, I’m particularly pleased to be here today and to speak about the challenges Europe is facing.
There’s no doubt that Brexit is both a wake-up-call and a challenge for the EU. But there’s one thing I can guarantee: Brexit certainly doesn’t mean the end of the EU. The remaining 27 member states have made it clear that we stand united: for us the EU continues to provide the most essential framework for our actions.
The nature of our future relations will depend on what the UK wants, but also on the vital interests of the EU27. Of course, we want to maintain a close partnership with the UK after Brexit. As the British themselves have also stressed, the UK is leaving the EU, but it is not leaving Europe. We’ll soon know more about what this means in practice.
But how do things look like on our side of the table?
Our top priority is to get the EU back on track. We need a better and stronger European Union. That's the only chance for us to shape globalisation in a more democratic, more social, more sustainable manner. Germany bears a special responsibility. In close partnership with the new French President Emmanuel Macron, we will revitalise the debate on Europe's future with ambitious and forward-looking concepts and ideas.
What we have to do now is find our feet again. We have to show people that the EU can deliver convincing solutions and results which an individual member state couldn’t achieve on its own.
It goes without saying that the EU shouldn’t control everything down to the smallest detail. However, when it comes to protecting the climate, regulating the financial markets, combating international terrorism or dealing effectively and in a spirit of solidarity with international flows of refugees – the only way to achieve all of this is through joint European action. These are the global issues where oldfashioned nation states really show their limitations.
In the globalised world of the 21st century, even Germany, though apparently so big, can only realise its interests within and through Europe. For in the global pond, we’re a pretty small fish on our own. Only a united Europe offers us a chance to regain some of our lost ability to act and exert influence on the world stage.
It’s becoming clear that we need the EU more than ever. That is why I simply cannot accept the apparently easy solutions that populists and nationalists in many member states want to fool the public into believing. They pose a threat to Europe. We must not allow populists and nationalists to determine our actions. Instead we have to steer the public discourse ourselves.
Nothing is made better by countries going it alone – in fact, many things are made worse. I’m very relieved about the election results in the Netherlands and in France. However, it remains uncertain whether this spells the end of the advance of populists in Europe. In France, 11 million voted for the candidate of the extreme right, while 4 million spoiled their ballot papers in protest against the candidates. I find this deeply troubling.
In these turbulent times, the Commission has put forward for discussion five different scenarios for the future of Europe. I think this move is timely and smart.
They are asking: What kind of Europe do you really want? It’s our turn as member states to address this question now and take this discussion seriously. And the starting point must be the challenges Europe is facing.
The economic situation remains an important challenge for Europe. The economic and social impact of the global financial and economic crisis has not yet been completely overcome. The situation differs from country to country. Portugal is certainly on the right path, and there is hope for further recovery in other places such as Spain or Greece. And at 1.7 percent, the eurozone actually enjoyed stronger growth in 2016 than, for example, the United States. It is particularly good news that the number of young unemployed Europeans below the age of 25 has fallen by 1.4 million since the introduction of the Youth Employment Initiative.
Nevertheless, every unemployed young person is one too many. The youth unemployment rate is still over 20 percent in some member states.
Many people are at risk of poverty and social exclusion. The gap between rich and poor has also increased in recent years. Europe is facing the great challenge of living up to the EU’s promise of prosperity once again. Social justice and fairness must therefore become greater priorities in European policymaking.
Yet another challenge is the migration crisis that has had a huge impact here in Germany in particular. It also created divisions with member states – particularly with Central and Eastern Europe.
But initial key steps to strengthen solidarity within the EU have already been taken: the member states intend to do more to help each other through Frontex in a drive to regain control over access at our external borders. One major milestone in this respect is the agreement on the establishment of a European border and coast guard agency. By better protecting our external borders, we’ll create more security for individuals.
Open internal borders in Europe can only work on a long-term basis if the EU states effectively safeguard the Schengen area’s external borders. We have to know who’s coming to us: where, when and how.
As Ambassadors, you will have followed the developments in European foreign and security policy closely. The EU’s Global Strategy of 2016 provides the political framework. To put it simply, we in Europe believed for too long that our way of life was best defended by the United States; we wanted to stay out of international conflicts.
Those days are over. The United States and NATO remain the enduring cornerstones of the transatlantic community. However, we need to decide for ourselves how to defend our interests and values and to define our tasks in this crisis-ridden world. We ourselves bear full responsibility. You might say that we’re in the process of growing up.
In the meantime, we are confronted with a number of crises in our neighbourhood. As recently as 2002, we believed we could establish a “ring of friends” with the countries around us. Things turned out differently, however, and something more like a “ring of fire” has developed. Just look at Ukraine, Syria and Libya – to some extent, these crises have a direct and highly political impact on Europe, for example through the refugee flows. Europe needs to develop the instruments and willingness to conduct a more active foreign and security policy and to help find lasting solutions to the crises in its neighbourhood.
Admittedly, Asia and the Pacific region seem a long way off for many people in Europe. But this is short-sighted. Security and stability in Asia have a direct impact on Europe and its prosperity.
In the EU’s Global Strategy we thus agreed that we Europeans want to develop a more comprehensive approach to our relations with your countries. This approach will include greater contributions to Asia’s security architecture.
In Germany and Europe we see the enormous potential for developing our trade relations – particularly given that the United States doesn’t want to pursue the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The EU has signed a free-trade agreement with South Korea that works very well. It’s high time we made progress on other free-trade projects, for example with Singapore, Japan or Indonesia. Fortunately, the free-trade talks with Malaysia resumed on 10 March.
We want to move ahead swiftly. The German Government is pushing for negotiating mandates for the European Commission for talks with Australia and New Zealand. We also want to make faster progress with India.
I am aware that we Europeans sometimes stretch our negotiating partners’ patience. European decision-making processes can be very long and complicated. As Minister of State for Europe, no one knows this better than me. But I can assure you that it’s worth the effort. In the end, you have a result that applies in all member states – that means some 500 million people – and is underpinned by the democratic process. That’s no small thing.
And now I look forward to discussing all this with you.
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http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Reden/2017/170518_StM_R_AsiaPacificLunch.html?nn=479796
Austria bans the burka as part of new migrant law
Austrian lawmakers have approved a ban on the burka amongst a series of other controversial steps to integrate migrants. The measure was backed by both ...from
http://www.west-info.eu/austria-bans-the-burka-as-part-of-new-migrant-law/
Federal Foreign Office on the comments made by President Ivanov of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Federal Foreign Office on the comments made by President Ivanov of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
With regard to the comments made by President Ivanov of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia concerning the German Ambassador in Skopje, Christine Althauser, a Federal Foreign Office Spokesperson issued the following statement today (18 May):
Zusatzinformationen
We are pleased that, after a long period of consideration, President Ivanov has managed to reach the right decision and given up his obstructionist stance. Accusations directed at German diplomats and those of other friendly nations are inappropriate. It is a well-known fact that the assessments conveyed to the guest country always emerge in close coordination between the Foreign Ministry and the Embassy itself.
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http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2017/170518_ejR_MKD_Ivanov.html?nn=479796
Federal Foreign Office on the situation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Federal Foreign Office on the situation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
A Federal Foreign Office spokesperson commented today (17 May) on the situation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia:
Zusatzinformationen
It is a positive development that President Ivanov has changed course and is no longer blocking the formation of a new government. This decision was long overdue and finally reflects the outcome of the elections held in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in December 2016.
The leader of the SDSM, Zaev, now has the mandate to form a government. This can be an important initial step along the way to overcoming the political crisis which has enfolded the country for months.
We call upon all players in Skopje now to work together constructively – also in the upcoming coalition negotiations. The country’s people do not deserve to have political games played out at their expense.
What the country needs, and what its citizens rightly expect, is the rapid formation of a new government which will actively work on the comprehensive implementation of the arrangements made in the Pržino Agreement and on the other urgent reform priorities. Far‑reaching reforms are needed in order for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to proceed further along the path towards Euro‑Atlantic integration. Germany will continue to support the country along this route.
from
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2017/170517_AA_Lage_ejR_Mazedonien.html?nn=479796
Speech by Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel at the presentation of the German Football Ambassador award to Miroslav Klose
Speech by Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel at the presentation of the German Football Ambassador award to Miroslav Klose
Mr Bischof,
Mr Holzschuh,
Uwe Seeler,
Ladies and gentlemen,
and above all, Miroslav Klose!
I am delighted to be honouring you as Football Ambassador today. An ambassador in a building full of diplomats – people who work to forge good relations with their counterparts, as it says in the dictionary, people who try to engage with people without annoying them.
Well, with all due respect, Miroslav Klose: I suspect you may well have annoyed people during your encounters on the football pitch in the last few years, at least your football-playing opponents!
After all, your performance will have made an impression on several of your opponents all over the world!
Ladies and gentlemen, Miroslav Klose has broken every goal record that a striker can break:
– top scorer in the Bundesliga!
– record scorer for the national team!
– top scorer in the 2006 World Cup!
– World Cup goal record with 16 goals!
– and of course – World Champion!
And yet I ask myself: was it possible to achieve all this by diplomatic means, with regard to our good relations in this world? I imagine there are a few countries which were critical of Germany when Miroslav Klose went off the field.
Just take a moment to think about it: spectacular goals, like the 8:0 win against Saudi Arabia, a country with which we are constantly working to forge better relations – and three of those goals were headers from you! Or the crucial equaliser against Argentina in the World Cup quarter final here in Germany. Or the 7:1 victory against Brazil in the World Cup semi‑final three years ago! You have no idea how much work you made for us here at the Federal Foreign Office!
But the special thing about you, Miroslav Klose, is this: of course, you are an ambitious sportsman. You want to win – otherwise you wouldn't have achieved nearly as much in your football career. Yet you manage to ensure that your football opponents don't have to feel like losers. That's why Football Ambassador, diplomat, is, after all, an appropriate term.
For even though he has scored so many goals against other teams, Miroslav Klose is characterised by his respect for his opponents, his team spirit, his fairness, his decency – and this he undoubtedly also shares with Uwe Seeler. And that is exactly why we can't think of anyone who deserves this award more!
Miroslav Klose once said: “Anyone who knows me, knows that the team always comes first, then nothing, and after that, at some point, it's my turn.”
And that's true: At all stages of his career, whether in Kaiserslautern, Bremen, Munich or latterly with S.S. Lazio in Rome, Miro Klose has always made his team his first priority. Both on and off the field!
I think football fans have a very fine sense for when a player has no aspirations to be a star, and doesn't pretend to be something he isn't amid all the hype surrounding professional football. Miroslav Klose is such a player. He has never tried to draw attention to himself with loud statements or poses. That is what so many fans like about him. Not just here in Germany, but also in Italy, where, in Rome, he rapidly won the hearts of the tifosi through his playing, and that is no mean feat.
Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he once scored the deciding goal in the Rome Derby for S.S. Lazio in the third minute of extra time ... After that, an Italian sports newspaper christened him “the true king of Rome”.
And for many he even became the “emperor of Rome”, when during a match he wouldn't allow a goal he had scored for S.S. Lazio, despite the fact that the referee had already approved it, because he had touched the ball with his hand! His team went on to lose the game. Maybe he would have saved the game for his team if he had kept quiet. However, Klose's gesture earned him the respect of team colleagues and opponents throughout the football world.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is why Miroslav Klose is a great Football Ambassador. He stands for fairness, team spirit, commitment and, of course, for exceptional performance!
Miroslav Klose, we are all delighted that you will remain involved with German football as a trainer after the end of your football career.
You have made an outstanding contribution to football. You have shaped the image of Germany abroad in the most positive way. And at the same time you have set an example of how it is possible not to deny one's own culture and national origins and still be a role model for many other people in our country.
I hope you are pleased to receive this special prize.
Although I do understand if you don't express your delight in the same extraordinary way that we've seen when you've scored a goal ... with a somersault!
Congratulations and thank you very much!
from
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Reden/2017/170516-Fussball_Botschafter.html?nn=479796
Speech by Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth at the opening of the Gotha exhibition of French masterpieces from Russia
Speech by Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth at the opening of the Gotha exhibition of French masterpieces from Russia
-- Translation of advance text --
Mr Mayor,
Ms Taubert,
Mr Shvydkoy,
Ms Loshak,
Professor Eberle,
Excellencies,
Ambassador Grinin,
Ambassador Etienne,
Honoured guests,
When preparing for this event, my mind was drawn to two questions in particular: Are art exhibitions like this one here in Gotha really a continuation of politics by other means? And can we learn anything for today from the art of bygone times?
Our relationship with Russia is currently experiencing some turbulence. Trust in Russia has been eroded by the illegal annexation of Crimea, the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine, the measures taken to suppress criticism and the barbaric attacks on homosexuals in Chechnya. But it’s also clear that we are ready to reach out to each other again as soon as there is a basis on which to do so. We need each other. Especially now. The world yearns for greater peace, stability and security. But that we can only deliver if we work together.
In the midst of these political difficulties, this wonderful art exhibition gives us the chance to focus on a long‑standing trust‑based German-Russian partnership – the collaboration between the Friedenstein Castle Foundation in Gotha and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. This collaboration has not only made it possible for some of the French masterpieces on display here to be shown for the first time outside of Russia, but last year it also resulted in a Cranach exhibition in Moscow, which brought together works from Gotha’s Cranach collection with pieces that had been removed at the end of the Second World War. It was the first such exhibition ever to be held in Moscow or elsewhere and it met with overwhelming interest.
For Germany and Russia alike, the loss of cultural property has been a painful wound in our cultural identity. At the opening of the Moscow exhibition you, Professor Shvydkoy, expressed your hope that such joint projects would prepare the ground for talking about more difficult issues. I can only endorse this hope!
Yesterday, Cranach in Moscow – and today French masterpieces in Gotha. Both exhibitions are part of our endeavour to keep the dialogue between us alive in these politically strained times. Let us counteract this growing alienation first and foremost by strengthening and revitalising civil society exchange. Art and culture create human relationships. They help us understand each other better. They aren’t the cherry on the cake but the yeast in the dough.
For this reason, too, “inspiring people” is the slogan of our cultural relations and education policy. We want to inspire people across borders – for example through our numerous fellowship and residency programmes and our youth exchange programmes. Our cultural relations and education policy does not avert its eyes from critical social issues. Far from it. It takes sides. It takes the side of humanity, respect, diversity and artistic freedom. We want to be diverse without fear. Everywhere.
Only by meeting and exchanging ideas with other people can we create an environment that provides the scope for intellectual flexibility and development, fosters understanding and empathy, and breaks down prejudices. It is the job of cultural relations to create space for intellectual exchange and for the forming of emotional bonds. That’s what this project in Gotha is about as well.
It is the lifeblood of our societies. Culture has always been and will remain a “motor” of social processes. It is with this in mind that we also support projects to expand civil society exchange with Russia and eastern European countries.
We should also take the contemplation of art as an opportunity to see things from another perspective. That can certainly be of particular advantage in politics. As Paul Klee said in 1920, art does not reproduce what we see; rather it makes us see. Art is thus also a mirror of its time. Portraits have assumed a central place both in the Cranach exhibition in Moscow and in this show of French masterpieces in Gotha. In the 15th century, the genre of portraiture was becoming fashionable in the Italian city states, but it was still revolutionary. It put the individual in the focus of art and politics.
But portraits also remained a depiction of power, dominion, and political or economic importance, as was brought home to us by Cranach in particular with his many portraits of Luther.
Martin Luther and his wife Katharina von Bora were the first commoners in Germany to be painted in this style. To hang pictures of them on your own four walls was a courageous sign of support for the Reformation. Portraits from the Cranach workshop thus played a similarly central role in the success of the Reformation as Gutenberg’s printing press had done 50 years earlier. This development has been shown to great effect in the two major exhibitions in the United States which the Federal Foreign Office has helped fund. Interest was huge.
The German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe is currently responsible for a total of seven touring exhibitions which show just what far‑reaching political, religious and social effects the Reformation had in eastern Europe and even in Russia.
The French masters on show here – like Cranach many years before them – produced works commissioned by aristocrats at their courts, and so continued the tradition of portrait painting. However, their paintings also reveal how, following the Reformation and the rise of Absolutism in European capitals from Paris to Moscow in the 16th to 18th centuries, even more emphasis was laid on symbols of power.
What we see here today is thus in a sense the passion for art and collecting of a powerful pan‑European aristocratic elite. They defined themselves primarily through their noble lineage and their claims of dominion, and far less through their language or culture or that of their subjects.
For example, the exhibition includes portraits by François‑Lois Drouais and Jean‑Marc Nattier of Princess Ekaterina Golitsyna and Prince Dimitri Golitsyn. Their close relative, Princess Natalya Golitsyna, had a great fondness for card games and was the inspiration for Pushkin’s eponymous figure “The Queen of Spades” in the short story published in 1834, when she was still alive.
In the story, Hermann’s avarice leads to his betrayal of his beloved and the death of the Queen of Spades, but he is intoxicated by his belief in the magic power he has thereby gained which will guarantee that he triumphs in any card game. But then he makes a mistake at the crucial moment – and loses everything.
What a warning this is to the rulers and chancers of the modern world with their inflated egos! Especially since the Prince Golitsyn pictured in the portrait played a key role in the negotiations on the first partition of Poland. He embodies the aristocratic imperial ambitions of his time.
The artworks however also presage the fundamental shift which saw the decline of the noble houses of Europe in the second half of the 19th century and ushered in the age of nation states based on liberal or conservative values.
The aforementioned Prince Golitsyn is also remembered for founding Golitsyn Hospital in Moscow with his own money, and for leaving a large part of his inheritance to the institution.
Later on, members of the Golitsyn family and, from 1828 to 1853, the German doctor Friedrich Haas, known as the “holy doctor of Moscow”, worked in this very hospital. They worked together to humanise Russia’s penal system. The Golitsyn portrait thus also depicts one of the first protagonists of fledgling civil society engagement and an enabler of German-Russian cooperation. It is thus of unexpected relevance to us today! What a role model! And what a contrast to Golitsyn’s role in the partition of Poland.
In the early 20th century, irresponsible aristocratic elites and aggressive nationalism drew Europe into the cataclysm of the First World War. The deaths and deprivations this entailed swept the German and Russian royal families from the political stage, paving the way for the Russian Revolution of February-March and October-November 1917, and the November Revolution of 1918 and the creation of the Weimar Republic.
Konstantin Stanislavski, who co‑founded the Moscow Art Theatre company in 1898, once said: “Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art!” In an era when digitally filtered selfies are “advancing” portrait art in a highly ambivalent manner, questions about the place humans assume in society, in a world shaped by advancing globalisation and digitalisation, are still very topical. Portraiture remains a mirror of its time. Today, as it was in Cranach’s time.
A big thank you to the organisers of today’s exhibition! I wish all those active in the Russian-German dialogue on art and culture all the best – may you have lots of good ideas and pursue meaningful projects. Dialogue not speechlessness, exchange not isolation, inspiration not desolation, freedom not oppression, courage not resignation – that’s what I wish for us all. And so – to get back to my two initial questions – this art exhibition is political in nature. And we can indeed learn something from it if we open our minds to it.
from
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Reden/2017/170514-StM_R_Gotha.html?nn=479796
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