Germany’s role has changed significantly over the past 75 years. Not only is the country now an accepted member of the international community, it is also one of the most important defenders and promoters of multilateralism.

COVID-19 – we can only defeat the virus by working together

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of multilateral cooperation. Our health, prosperity and security depend on our taking joint action.

On the anniversary today of the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, the Alliance for Multilateralism will express its support for multilateralism in a discussion with WHO President Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus co-chaired by Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on how the current challenges posed by COVID-19 can be addressed together. Foreign Ministers from each continent will meet virtually today to strengthen the global health architecture and to discuss safeguarding freedom of the media and how to deal with disinformation.

We can only contain coronavirus by working together. In this context, free and independent media are essential in order to protect people against disinformation, which, in the worst-case scenario, can be fatal.

The virus is merely one of the threats that knows no borders and which we can only tackle together. In the future, we will have to deal more often with invisible enemies such as COVID-19, as we see in the case of climate change or cyber attacks. That is why we actively support a more comprehensive concept of security. We will also highlight this during our presidency of the Security Council.

Network for multilateralism

The Alliance for Multilateralism is a supraregional network of like-minded states that actively strive to preserve and further develop the rules-based international order. The aim is to foster the values and goals of the UN and to enhance compliance with fair rules in existing organisations and formats in order tackle the challenges of the future together. Today’s meeting will build on the joint declaration of 16 April 2020 by the Alliance for Multilateralism on global cooperation and solidarity in the fight against COVID-19. The declaration has already been signed by 60 foreign ministers. We must now work together to live up to our promise to regard potential treatment and a future vaccine as global public goods.