Fatima Khan's Blog: Statement by Foreign Minister Gabriel on the adoption of the German Government’s guidelines on crisis prevention, conflict management and peacebuilding

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Statement by Foreign Minister Gabriel on the adoption of the German Government’s guidelines on crisis prevention, conflict management and peacebuilding

Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel issued the following statement today (14 June) on the adoption of the German Government’s guidelines on crisis prevention, conflict management and peacebuilding on 14 June 2017:

Zusatzinformationen

The German Government adopted guidelines on crisis prevention, conflict management and peacebuilding today, thus achieving a key aim of the coalition agreement. We now have a strategic document for the German Government’s actions. The focus is on the guiding principle of peace in all our endeavours.

Wherever possible, far-sighted policies must ensure that crises do not break out in the first place. Channels of communication can be kept open in conflict situations through mediation and diplomatic endeavours. After a ceasefire, a peace dividend must be achieved quickly. This dividend must reach the people in the crisis-hit areas and create faith in political progress beyond the zero-sum game of violence. Our long-term aim is to help establish structures that guarantee security for all, facilitate a peaceful balancing of political interests and provide fundamental state services so that lasting peace can spread.

The guidelines express our commitment to an interconnected approach. All instruments, whether they involve civilian projects, police training or, in extreme cases, deployment of our armed forces, the Bundeswehr, serve to support a political strategy. We want to invest more in prevention, as the use of military force remains the last resort.

The guidelines add an equally important, primarily civilian pillar of German peace and security policy to the White Paper on German Security Policy and the Future of the Bundeswehr of 2016.

The adoption of the guidelines by no means spells the end of the underlying dialogue process. On the contrary, when it comes to putting these guidelines into practice, we will certainly need a lively discussion with the public. We will therefore present the guidelines in parliament, the German Bundestag, in the coming weeks and discuss with the Advisory Board for Civilian Crisis Prevention how the dialogue can be continued.