Werner Hoyer, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, is today (11 January) travelling to Washington DC for political talks.

Among those Minister of State Hoyer will meet during the coming days are Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow, with whom he will discuss disarmament issues, and Dan Burton, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia in the US Congress, talks with whom will focus on Europe.

In connection with these talks and at the invitation of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Minister of State Hoyer will give a speech on European and transatlantic issues on 12 January.

Also in the context of this visit, Minister of State Hoyer will award the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany to Karen Donfried, the former Vice President of the German Marshall Fund and a distinguished authority on Germany. He will further use the occasion to sign a new funding agreement between the Federal Foreign Office and the German Marshall Fund for the 2011-2015 period.