Security handover in Afghanistan

In Berlin today (18 June), Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle issued the following statement on the Afghan President’s announcement that the Afghan Government will assume responsibility for security throughout the country:

Background:

Today, Afghan President Karzai announced his decision on the fifth and last tranche of the security handover. The Afghan Government is now responsible for the security of more than 85 percent of the population.

Federal Government condemns attack on Camp Liberty

A Federal Foreign Office spokesperson issued the following statement on the recent attacks in Iraq, which claimed dozens of lives last weekend:

Foreign Minister Westerwelle on the elections in Iran: the new President has a great responsibility

Foreign Minister Westerwelle issued the following statement today on Hassan Rohani’s election in the first round of the presidential election in Iran:

Rohani’s victory in Iran: A vote for reform and constructive foreign policy

The following statement has been issued by a spokesperson for the Federal Foreign Office:

Federal Foreign Minister Westerwelle addresses the German Bundestag on the motion to continue the UNIFIL operation

– verbatim report of proceedings –

****

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, fellow parliamentarians! We cannot debate the continuation of Germany’s participation in the UNIFIL mission without at the same time considering the situation in neighbouring Syria. We are taking the indications that chemical substances have been used in Syria very seriously. We will continue the intensive exchange of information on this to find out the facts of the matter. We urge that the newly presented reports be discussed in the UN Security Council with a view to reaching a common position.

Germany will continue to work towards the planned international conference on Syria. Even if the chances of such a conference on Syria are not all that great just now, we should and we will continue our efforts to reach a political solution.

Lasting peace in Syria will only be achieved by a political solution. If I gauge your reactions correctly, this seems to be the view of the vast majority of members of this House.

Ladies and gentlemen, what we need as soon as possible is an end to the violence and the start of a political process. Germany itself will not supply any weapons to Syria. But we will respect any different conclusion reached by any of our partners. However, anyone considering supplying weapons must make sure that those weapons do not fall into the wrong hands. We have already seen elsewhere what grave repercussions there can be when extremists and terrorists get their hands on modern weapons technology.

The Federal Government, ladies and gentlemen, has up to now made available over 160 million euros, most of it for humanitarian assistance for the refugees and internally displaced persons. This makes Germany one of the largest donors. But I can assure you that we will look into further ways to provide support.

There is a very real danger that the conflict will spread to other countries in the region. The conflict in Syria is having a broader and broader impact. Hezbollah fighters have taken part in the fighting on the side of the regime. In Lebanon there is renewed tension around religious disputes. The possibility of renewed violence cannot be ruled out.

The already difficult domestic situation in Lebanon is being exacerbated by the influx of refugees from Syria. One million Syrian refugees in Lebanon alone – that’s equal to about a quarter of the country’s total population. So the country is undoubtedly getting closer and closer to its limits.

We have now put in place the conditions to take 5000 refugees here in Germany, most of whom will be coming to us from Lebanon. In addition, no-one who has come to Germany from Syria since April 2011 will be repatriated. This applies to no less than 11,000 asylum-seekers. No-one will be deported to Syria.

The support provided by UNIFIL in equipping and training Lebanese armed forces remains vital. The mission makes a crucial contribution towards preventing the crisis from spreading like wildfire through the region. It is in the international interest, but also in our own best interest, to continue German participation in UNIFIL.

Extending the mandate for the mission would also be in line with the wishes of Israel, Lebanon itself and the United Nations, all of which have expressly asked that German participation be continued. The Bundestag mandate for German participation in the UNIFIL naval element is to be extended unchanged for twelve months until 30 June 2014. The personnel ceiling remains unchanged at 300.

On behalf of the Federal Government, I request your approval of this mandate.

Minister of State Pieper: The passing of the German Schools Abroad Act marks a historic moment

Minister of State Cornelia Pieper has welcomed the approval of the German Schools Abroad Act by the German Bundestag on 13 June 2013 and issued the following statement in Berlin today (14 June):

Background:

The German Schools Abroad Act was drafted at the initiative of Minister of State Pieper with the Federal Foreign Office acting as lead agency and cooperating with Länder, associations and the Central Agency for Schools Abroad. It grants a legal right to funding to schools which are fully established and can demonstrate this by producing a stable number of graduates on a long-term basis.

The necessary threshold has been reached once a school has awarded an average of 12 school leaving certificates per year over a three-year period. Thus, 82 of the 141 German schools abroad will immediately be able to take advantage of the legal right anchored in the Act.

Schools which are not yet fully established or small schools in difficult locations which do not (yet) meet the criteria for the legal right to funding will continue to be financed through the flexible allocation instrument in line with their specific needs. They can gain a right to funding once they have fulfilled the quality criteria.

The German Schools Abroad Act implements the reform strategy for German schools abroad which was agreed upon by the Federal Government and the Länder in 2011. The number of teachers which the German state is legally bound to send to German schools abroad will be reduced in favour of considerably higher funding. In future, the schools will be able to choose whether to use these funds for employing additional teachers from Germany or for taking on suitable local teaching staff. The funding will – in contrast to the current situation – be granted in the shape of a budget which has no bearing on the schools’ own resources. German public funding will thus become both more predictable and more flexible for the schools.

The Act acknowledges that the German Language Certificate (DSD) is the primary instrument for promoting the German language in schools abroad at a high level. The DSD is offered by several hundred schools in other countries which are not part of the German schools abroad programme.

Speech by Minister of State Cornelia Pieper to mark the Andrássy Day at the Hungarian Embassy in Berlin

Ambassador Czukor, Professor Masát, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Allow me to begin by saying that the Andrássy University in Budapest (AUB) is an institution I hold very dear. In early March this year I had another opportunity to visit the university and experience again at first hand the unique character, the significance and the quality of this truly European university project.

I was therefore happy to assume the patronage for today’s event alongside the Hungarian ambassador. The Andrássy Day is an opportunity to pass review together and to celebrate the achievements of this academic cooperation project, as well as to create new perspectives for the university’s future.

The university’s development over the past 12 years has been most encouraging.

When the AUB was founded in 2001, the partners involved were optimistic and positive. But the idea of a German-language university in Budapest first had to prove itself in the real academic world – and we have the evidence that it has succeeded!

High-ranking international visitors from the fields of politics, culture and business, external consultants and academics all agree that the AUB has carved itself an important niche in the Hungarian university landscape as a university with international character which has a positive impact on the region.

The institution’s use of the German language as its lingua franca is an important distinguishing factor. When we talk about European knowledge transfer within the framework of today’s conference, I immediately think of the AUB. In the Central and Eastern European educational environment it is a point of contact and reference for German-language university education. At the same time it strengthens the role of German as a language of academia. Budapest, with its historic role as the hub of the region and its traditionally strong cultural ties with the German-speaking world, is undoubtedly an ideal location which has played a key role in the AUB’s success.

Since the AUB was founded the Federal Foreign Office has provided funding on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany, together with its partners Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland and, of course, Hungary. Since 2011 the autonomous region of Trentino South Tyrol has also been a funding partner.

This institution is proof that academia is not restricted by national borders. This insight, which really goes without saying, forms the basis of research and academic relations policy.

If you take a look at the students’ and lecturers’ countries of origin, you can see that young people from states such as Croatia, Montenegro and Turkey make the university a place which embodies an international outlook. Those who study or teach there not only belong to a transnational academic network but are also people whose thinking transcends borders and who will shape our future at a broader international level.

The Federal Foreign Office supports international academic and research networks and cooperation of this kind in the context of its cultural relations and education policy.

For a high-tech country such as Germany, promoting international cooperation, particularly in the area of university education, is crucial.

We are pleased that Germany has become an attractive place for Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europeans especially to study and conduct research. Almost 100,000 young people, from Albania to Belarus, come to Germany to study each year.

The Federal Government and the Federal Foreign Office attach considerable importance to cultural cooperation with Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European countries. Hungary is one of our closest and most longstanding partners. The Andrássy University is part of the success story of German-Hungarian cooperation.

Another key characteristic of the AUB is the clear European focus of its research and teaching. From research on minorities, through transformation processes, to European integration, the present, future and history of Europe are at the centre of its study programmes.

The Danube Institute, which has been helping to define the university’s research profile since 2009, plays a key role in this area. It is now established as an interdisciplinary research institute in the region and has become a crucible for the development of a research network in the Danube area. The Danube Institute is now a hallmark of the Andrássy University and its European focus. At this point I would like to express my personal thanks to the Director of the Institute, Professor Bos, for her outstanding work.

In view of the high academic standard of tuition at the Andrássy University it comes as no surprise to me that its alumni are also filling international leadership positions, for example, in the institutions of the European Union. Its graduates are multilingual experts on Europe with intercultural experience – and that is what we need more than ever before.

Peace, solidarity, democracy and a culture of empathy and transnational interaction are pillars of the European idea – but they do not appear out of nowhere.

I therefore see the Andrássy University in one sense as a response from cultural relations and education policy to the question of what we can do to develop the European idea further and help people identify with it.

I see in the Andrássy University considerable long-term potential for supporting and initiating social transformation processes, particularly with regard to relations with the Western Balkan countries.

I therefore expressly welcome the university’s plan to focus more strongly on the Western Balkans and Turkey in future. We would be delighted to see more students from eastern partner countries come to the Andrássy University.

Those of you who know the AUB and its historic palace at the heart of Budapest will agree with me that this university is a wonderful place of learning and research, at which many of us no doubt would like or have liked to study ourselves.

Yet we must not forget that the attractiveness of the AUB as a study and research location is not something to be taken for granted. We must strive not only to preserve this, but to build on it.

The development of the Andrássy University has been successful, and the institution is moving in the right direction. However, the past years have shown that the university needs an adequate longer-term financial basis so that it can run its operations more autonomously than it has been able to do so far.

This university must be equipped to further stabilize and boost its quality as a teaching institution and above all its potential as a research centre. This involves strengthening non-professorial teaching staff at local level as well as sending out guest professors and lecturers.

Together with its partners the Federal Foreign Office is currently seeking answers to the structural and financial issues which will arise following the expiry of the joint financing declaration at the end of 2015.

This also involves looking for a way to provide the AUB with institutional support.

Side by side with our partners we want to ensure that, in Budapest, motivated and gifted people from the Danube area can continue to study in German, we want to open the door to a promising professional future for them, enable them to take important values into the world and equip them to shape a united Europe and show that it is viable.

The lecturers and administrative staff, too, should have long-term prospects so that they retain their motivation and commitment to driving forward this promising joint project.

I would like to thank the partners gathered here today and the university for all their support and efforts so far. I am convinced that this university’s success story will continue.

Thank you for your attention.

Foreign Minister Westerwelle has protested against the treatment of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Sri Lanka

Following talks between Foreign Minister Westerwelle and Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Peiris, a Federal Foreign Office spokesperson made the following statement:

Background:

A representative of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Sri Lanka was taken into custody in Colombo today (13 June). After a guarantee had been provided, she was later provisionally released. The German Ambassador to Sri Lanka protested against this action in strong terms.

The talks with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister were held this afternoon in the Federal Foreign Office.

Foreign Minister Westerwelle condemns fatwa against Hamed Abdel-Samad

A fatwa calling for the death of German author Hamed Abdel-Samad has been declared in Egypt after statements he made were televised. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle condemns the death threat. The Federal Foreign Office is in touch with Mr Abdel-Samad.

Foreign Minister Westerwelle issued the following statement on the matter today:

The Federal Foreign Office is in direct contact with Mr Abdel-Samad and has offered him concrete assistance.

Background information

Hamed Abdel-Samad is a German author who has published several books in recent years in which he undertakes a critical examination of Islam. After he gave a speech in Cairo last week, some of Mr Abdel-Samad’s utterances were picked up on by Egyptian television. An Islamist party spokesman and a professor at Al-Azhar University issued a fatwa calling for Mr Abdel-Samad to be killed.

Speech by Foreign Minister Westerwelle on the Day of the Peacekeeper

-- Translation of advance text --

Excellencies,
Distinguished colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Today for the first time, Federal Minister Friedrich, Federal Minister de Maizière and I are together honouring German participants in international peace missions.

We’re honouring custodians of peace.

We’re honouring police officers, soldiers and civilian experts.

They represent the more than 6000 Germans who took part in peace missions around the world in 2012 alone.

Peace is more than the absence of war. Peace requires effective state structures. Peace requires the rule of law. Peace requires favourable economic prospects.

Every crisis is different. Every crisis needs its own tailor-made solutions. Neither the tools of traditional diplomacy, nor development policy, nor security policy alone are enough to overcome them.

We will only succeed if we adopt a networked approach.

Our engagement in Mali is one example of our broad-based support. German soldiers are serving with the EU Training Mission EUTM. We will contribute up to 150 soldiers to the new UN mission MINUSMA.

The Federal Government is also considering seconding officers to the Mission’s police contingent. At the same time, we are supporting the dialogue and reconciliation process within Mali.

Furthermore, we will make 100 million euros in development aid available in the next two years.

The situation in Syria is dramatic. There is a very real danger that the conflict will spread to other countries in the region. There can be no lasting peace in Syria without a political solution.

The Federal Government has provided more than 140 million euros to assist refugees, the internally displaced and the countries which have taken them in. We are helping to build civilian structures in northern Syria.

We congratulate Martin Kobler on his appointment as head of the largest United Nations peace mission, MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A fellow German – Stefan Feller – is the UN’s top police officer. I’m delighted to welcome both of them here today.

Our soldiers are risking their lives for Germany’s security. And many police officers and civilian experts are also taking part in dangerous missions.

When civilian experts such as lawyers, logisticians or engineers return home, there isn’t always a safe job waiting for them. The returnees’ skills and experience often don’t receive adequate recognition in Germany.

Every single one of them makes a vital contribution to peace and security: whether they are part of a large German contingent in Afghanistan or in Kosovo, or one of the few Germans serving in the Central African Republic or in Haiti.

I’d like to express my great admiration for your work. Today we want to publicly honour your achievements, your courage and your commitment.

I thank you, but also your families. For serving abroad involves many sacrifices.

Often under difficult circumstances, you have demonstrated with your expertise, experience and personal commitment that Germany is prepared to shoulder responsibility on the international stage. You are a great advert for our country. We are proud of what you are doing.

Human Rights Commissioner on Russian homosexual propaganda bill

The State Duma (lower house of parliament) of the Russian Federation passed a bill criminalizing the “propaganda of non traditional sexual relations to minors” upon its second and third reading on 11 June.

Markus Löning, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy, issued the following statement in Berlin today (12 June):

Background:

Following the vote in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, the bill still needs to be approved by the Council of the Federation (upper house) and signed by the President of the Russian Federation.

The German Government has already told the Russian side on a number of occasions that it expects the rights of sexual minorities in the Russian Federation to be protected. Back in March 2012, in connection with regional legislation passed in St. Petersburg, the German Government clearly stated that such laws – be they at regional or national level – violated the principles that Russia had pledged to uphold in its own constitution and by joining the Council of Europe.

Foreign Minister Westerwelle: We expect Ankara to ease tensions and pursue dialogue

Foreign Minister Westerwelle issued the following statement in Berlin today (12 June):

Freedom of religion and belief from the foreign policy angle

As part of the Berlin Talks on Religion and Politics, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle gave a keynote speech on freedom of religion and belief from the foreign policy angle on 11 June 2013 at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

-- Translation of advance text --

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about a topic that rarely makes the headlines, but which touches the roots of our value-oriented foreign policy.

An active human rights policy is the trademark of Germany’s foreign policy. Promoting freedom of religion is part of this active human rights policy.

“Religion (...) depends solely on the manner of individual conception.” This statement is a little more than 200 years old.

Its author is Wilhelm von Humboldt – educational reformer, diplomat and one of the men this university is named after.

According to this idea, every individual has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and world view. Every person has the right to practise his religion or world view privately or in public. Everyone has the right to switch from one faith to another. Everyone has the right not to believe in any faith.

The right to freedom of religion or belief is the foundation that allows all individuals to live their lives in freedom and dignity.

Social tolerance and religious pluralism are not patronizing gifts bestowed on individuals, but rather the greatest gift we give ourselves. For in an era of globalization in which our networks expand rapidly across cultural and religious borders, respect for these values is a prerequisite for living together in peace with mutual respect.

The universality of human rights has been a recognized, normative guiding principle of state action around the globe since the signing of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 at the latest.

We Germans should not delude ourselves: it took us centuries to develop an anthropocentric canon of values that included the right to practise one’s religion freely.

Before Frederick the Great formulated his famous sentence that “everyone must find his own salvation” in June 1740, long, horrible wars over faith, religion and power had been waged on German soil between Christians of different denominations. The Thirty Years’ War alone cost a large part of Germany’s population their lives or brought terrible hardship upon them.

Even in the 20th century, millions of people were murdered for their beliefs on German soil. For this reason, we do not seek to pressure other countries on religious freedom in a schoolmasterly fashion. It is rather what we have learned from our own history that makes us stand up for religious pluralism.

In doing so we oppose attempts to make respect for human rights contingent on cultural factors. We cannot accept this way of relativizing values. Religious oppression is not an expression of culture; it is a negation of culture.

We are concerned about the many cases of harassment of religious communities. We are at present witnessing shocking violence against Christians. Worldwide, around 100 million Christians in 130 countries are prevented from freely practising their religion and are discriminated against because of their beliefs.

We condemn the harassment and arbitrary oppression Muslims are subject to in some places.

Repressive legislation and regulations prohibiting the practising of religion, the building of places of worship, the reading and distribution of religious writings and the use of religious symbols are indicative of policies of intolerance, exclusion and polarization.

All over the world, members of various religions are subject to serious assaults to life and limb.

Religion is often a pretext for the violation of human rights and discrimination is practised in its name, discrimination against women for example.

And against homosexuals, who are discriminated against or even persecuted on religious grounds.

The Federal Government campaigns for freedom of religion, for pluralism and against persecution and oppression.

Germany’s human rights policy has a range of instruments at its disposal for its work to protect religious freedom. Much takes place behind the scenes. The protection of religious minorities is a regular topic in my talks and this includes the discussion of individual cases.

Using cultural relations and education policy instruments, the Federal Foreign Office works around the world to promote interreligious and intercultural dialogue. Fighting causes of religious hatred and discrimination is a task that is as important as it is laborious. It is worth every effort.

The dialogue with the Islamic world is a key concern of the Federal Government. In Egypt and Tunisia parties with a religious affiliation have assumed the responsibilities of government.

We run projects in those countries, bringing together people from different cultures and religions in order to build mutual understanding and tolerance.

At the European level, we Foreign Ministers launched an initiative to draw up EU guidelines on freedom of religion or belief last March. I am confident that we will be able to pass these new guidelines at the next Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the end of this month.

The United Nations plays an especially important role in protecting freedom of religion or belief as the only global organization of its kind.

The UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief is Prof. Heiner Bielefeldt, a German national. In our talks last year, I was very impressed by his very clear analysis of the challenges. The Federal Foreign Office strongly supports his work both politically and financially.

Germany is respected around the globe for its unstinting human rights policy. Our country has been voted onto the UN Human Rights Council again for the years 2013 to 2015, which we take both as recognition of our past work and encouragement to do more.

Only great patience and persistent reasoned persuasion lead to success. For example, in 2011 the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries refrained from submitting a resolution aimed at reframing the individual right to freedom of religion or belief as a collective right for the first time in many years.

The Federal Government’s efforts are made in the understanding that the right to freedom of religion or belief are universal rights for the protection of all people. We promote protection for all religions and communities of beliefs and also for the protection of people who have decided not to belong to any such community.

When Christians only call for freedom for Christians, Hindus are only interested in the freedom of Hindus and Muslims only argue for the freedom of Muslims we have not found the mutual respect between religions that our globalized world so urgently needs in order to preserve peace.

However, not all conflicts between adherents of different religions are religious conflicts. Religion is also misused to fan the flames of conflicts based on power politics.

It is often not religious affiliation, but rather the fatal combination of poverty, illiteracy and a low level of education that is the breeding ground for intolerance, extremism and hate.

What can happen when religious sentiments are instrumentalized by preachers of hatred was demonstrated not least by the video diatribe against the Prophet Mohammed. But even if someone whose life and thinking are influenced by religion thinks that his or her faith is being disparaged by caricatures or other expressions of opinion, this still in no way justifies violence.

Some have attempted to pit freedom of religion and freedom of expression against each other, but freedom of expression and freedom of religion are the fruit of the same tree, the beautiful tree of freedom.

What matters is a culture of mutual respect in dealing with what people hold sacred.

It is the job of politics to promote a social climate characterized by tolerance, respect and openness. Politics may not presume to judge what is true.

At the same time, a basic requirement for the coexistence of different religions in a free and peaceful society is that no religion extends its claim to truth into politics.

Both religion and politics must impose limitations on themselves in order to preserve the peace and cohesion of our societies, which have become so diverse.

Our international human rights policies are only as credible as our own example. We must be persuasive by being a role model.

Anti-Semitism in Germany has still not been overcome. The brutal attack on Rabbi Daniel Alter and his daughter in August 2012 in Berlin was a deep shock to us all.

The debate in Germany on the topic of circumcision exposed an alarming amount of anti religious prejudice towards Jewish and Muslim traditions. The ignorance expressed in some of the contributions to the debate was disturbing.

It is also unacceptable that a group of neo-Nazis could go about murdering people of mostly Muslim faith largely unhindered for years. We owe not only the victims and the watchful foreign press a thorough investigation of the mistakes made while this scandalous series of murders was being committed. We owe this above all to ourselves.

There are positive developments that we are happy to see.

This morning I had the pleasure of speaking at the tenth anniversary celebration of the Touro College in Berlin. It is an encouraging signal that more and more Jews are choosing to live in Germany. I am happy that today we again have a vibrant Jewish cultural and intellectual scene in Germany.

Germany is also the home of many millions of people of the Muslim faith. It is home to Buddhists and Hindus. We welcome them all. We are proud when they see Germany as a tolerant and open-minded country.

When we speak of tolerance, we mean the active tolerance that considers diversity to be enriching.

That is the mindset whose development we must promote together so that with our increasingly networked societies in this era of globalization we do not see fronts harden between people, but rather see cohesion strengthened. It is only from true cohesion, respect and mutual understanding that peace can grow.

Freedom has a daughter. Her name is tolerance.

And freedom has a son. His name is respect.

Both children require our complete attention and affection.

Children must not be abused as cheap labour

On the occasion of World Day against Child Labour, Federal Government Human Rights Commissioner Markus Löning issued the following statement today (11 June):

Background:

The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the first World Day against Child Labour in 2002 held on 12 June ever since. The aim is to draw attention to the fate of millions of children all across the world.

177 states have now ratified ILO Convention no. 182 on the worst forms of child labour, 166 states have ratified Convention no. 138 on the minimum age for admission to employment and work.

On the World Day against Child Labour, Markus Löning is meeting Ms Raschidowa, ombudswoman for human rights of the Uzbek Parliament, and will talk to her about the children who are forced to work at the annual cotton harvest.

Speech by Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in occasion of  the 10^th anniversary of the founding of Touro College Berlin and the graduation of the 2012/2013 class

--check against delivery --

Rector,
State Secretary Schmitz,
Ambassador Karslioglu,
Ms Knobloch,
Excellencies,
Students and graduates,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Today we have two things to celebrate: the 10^th anniversary of the founding of Touro College Berlin and the graduation of the 2012/2013 class.

To all the new graduates I offer heartfelt congratulations on receiving your degrees. You have studied at a unique university in a city that is a magnet for people from all over the world.

Your graduation is a great personal success for each and every one of you. But it also sends an important message to all of us. Your graduation bears witness to the revival of Jewish life in Germany. We are delighted to observe this development, but we are by no means taking it for granted.

The Shoah, the greatest crime against humanity Germans have ever perpetrated, is something we shall never forget, something we must not ever forget. Only if you remember, will you be able to take responsibility for the future.

We are grateful that after the Shoah Jewish people chose to remain in Germany or to come here to found new Jewish communities, synagogues and education establishments. We want Germany to be a home for Jews.

The German state has a responsibility to ensure that our Jewish citizens feel safe and at home here. Just a few days ago in Offenbach a rabbi was attacked and insulted by a crowd of youths. Such acts are intolerable and have no justification whatsoever.

There can be no place for anti-Semitism either here in Germany or anywhere else.

Anti‑Semitism is a threat to all of us, not only our Jewish fellow citizens. It undermines our most deeply cherished values. Tolerance, cultural diversity and religious pluralism are not a generous gift to others, but the greatest present to ourselves.

For ten years now Touro College has been part of the fine mosaic of academic relations between Germany and the United States.

The transatlantic partnership is the most important non‑European pillar of German foreign policy. It is firmly anchored in NATO, our security alliance. And it is the core dimension of the political culture of the West. This transatlantic friendship is based not just on excellent government-to-government contacts. It is based on countless personal friendships, the friendship between our two nations.

Germany is greatly looking forward to President Barack Obama’s visit next week. 

At this point I’d like to say a special word to our new graduates.

Touro College Berlin is a place where people come to study from all over the world. It offers not only an ideal study environment, it’s also a place where you can feel and understand what an interna­tional outlook, a culture of diversity and mutual respect mean in real life.

Touro College is a huge gain for Berlin’s higher education landscape. And its accreditation last year by the German Council of Science and Humanities has further enhanced its standing.

In Berlin you can also trace how Germany has developed into a vibrant and multi-faceted democracy that confronts its past honestly and lives up to its responsibilities. Berlin is a fascinating, tolerant and open-minded capital that attracts people from all over the world. And I’m sure that you, too, have had an enjoyable and enriching stay in Berlin.

People like you, who have studied abroad and enjoyed a multilingual educa­tion, have the skills and expertise needed to tackle the pressing issues of our time.

You can act as bridge builders and networkers. You have everything it takes to help shape the world’s future.

What counts here is not just technical know-how but also openness, intercultural understand­ing and respect for different perceptions and ways of life. These are skills you have also refined in the course of your studies.

I wish you all the best for the future.

Day of the Peacekeeper 2013 – honouring German participants in peace missions

Under the motto “Working for Peace”, Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich and Federal Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière will, for the very first time tomorrow (12 June), together honour the German participants in peace missions for their engagement in war and conflict zones. The three Ministers are honouring three soldiers, police officers and civilian experts each from three different missions, who will represent all Germans involved in operations of this nature. These men and women are being recognized jointly in order to emphasize that the work done by soldiers, police officers and civilian experts is equally important for the stabilization of countries hit by crisis.

In 2012, Germany contributed around 6000 soldiers, approximately 450 police officers and just under 200 civilian experts to internationally or bilaterally mandated peace missions. The number of German participants in international peace missions has markedly risen during the last ten years. Germany has thus taken on responsibility for peace and security around the world.

German military, police and civilian experts have been participating in international peace missions since the early 1990s. The first deployment was in 1989/1990 under a United Nations mandate in Namibia. Today, German participants are engaged in almost fifty missions around the world. Their tasks are diverse: they are advising the Government of South Sudan on police reform, training Afghan troops or acting as specialists on human rights issues in Kosovo. They are all making an important contribution towards crisis prevention and crisis management.

More than 500 guests are expected to attend the ceremony at the Federal Foreign Office. They will include active and former participants in UN, EU, NATO and OSCE peace missions, as well as Martin Kobler, Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, and Stefan Feller, since recently the United Nations Police Adviser in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UN DPKO). The event is being supported by the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF).

Further information on international peace missions and Germany’s involvement as well as on the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers can be found at:

http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Aussenpolitik/Friedenspolitik/Uebersicht_node.html

Joint press release by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Ministry of Defence, the Center for International Peace Operations and the Federal Foreign Office.

Foreign Minister Westerwelle welcomes Martin Kobler’s appointment as head of MONUSCO

This morning (11 June) Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle commented as follows on the appointment of German diplomat Martin Kobler as the new head of the UN peace mission in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy criticizes Chinese court verdict against Liu Hui

Markus Löning, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy, issued the following statement in Berlin today (10 June):

Background information:

In a suburb at Beijing, the sentence was handed down on Sunday, 9 June. In the trial of Liu Hui, the brother-in-law of the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, on charges of fraud. Liu was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment and two additional years of probation – exactly the same sentence as his brother-in-law Liu Xiaobo.

As on the first day of the trial this April, Liu Xia, the wife of Liu Xiaobo and sister of Liu Hui, who has been under house arrest since 2010, was allowed to attend the trial.

Representatives of the EU Delegation and from the embassies of the United States, France, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Norway and Germany have tried in vain to attend the trial as observers but waited in front of the court building as a gesture of solidarity.

Federal Foreign Office to host “Conference on Preparedness”

On Tuesday (11 June) Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will open the Conference on Preparedness at the Federal Foreign Office together with the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Baroness Valerie Amos. More than 120 participants from 39 states and 22 German and international organizations are expected to attend. Together they will debate questions such as how to improve disaster preparedness and deal with humanitarian crises more effectively.

The rising need for assistance around the world is threatening to exceed the capacities of many donor countries. It is therefore absolutely vital to use the existing resources as effectively as possible. Improving disaster preparedness can greatly contribute to achieving this aim. This calls for enhanced prevention measures by states at risk from disasters as well as better preparation by aid organizations.

One and a half years ago, the Federal Government launched an initiative to promote a more effective implementation of measures in the field of disaster preparedness. Together with Poland, it organized a series of meetings and seminars on the subject in Geneva where a set of principles and recommendations on preparedness was drawn up. These will now be presented at the conference.

Furthermore, the conference is intended as a forum to prepare the World Humanitarian Summit and the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, both taking place in 2015.

Touro College Berlin celebrates its 10th anniversary

On Tuesday (11 June) Touro College Berlin will present 27 graduates of its bachelor and master degree programmes with their diplomas and also celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will attend the ceremony in the Weltsaal of the Federal Foreign Office and give the keynote speech. Other speakers will include Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria and patron of Touro College Berlin, Turkish Ambassador Hüseyin Avni Karslioğlu and André Schmitz, Permanent Secretary for Cultural Affairs in the Berlin Senate Chancery.

Founded in 2003 by Dr Bernard Lander and Rector Sara Nachama in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district, Touro College Berlin currently has some 140 students enrolled on its degree programmes. Half of them are from Germany, while the other half come mostly from the United States, Israel and Eastern Europe. In addition to its American accreditation, the College has held German accreditation since 2012. Touro College and University System was established in 1970 and today has 19,000 students at 32 locations around the world. For more information on Touro College Berlin, go to: external link, opens in new windowwww.touroberlin.de