Kabul, August 2021. The Afghan capital is in a state of emergency. Following the Taliban’s seizure of power, thousands of people are trying to flee. They are making their way to Hamid Karzai International Airport. Some of them, in their desperation, risking everything to escape from the Taliban, cling to the wings of planes as they take off. In the dense crowd, a young couple pass their newborn baby over the barbed-wire-topped perimeter wall of the airport. Into the hands of American soldiers. Images that go around the world. Images that were seared into our brain when, in that long month of August 2021, we saw them on our screens, on our smartphones, on the front page of the newspapers or on the evening news.

You, however, Mr van Thiel, Mr Micheel, Mr Wolter and Mr Klawitter, did not see these pictures on the news. You were there.

At that time, I was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Defence Committee, and I well remember the heated and emotional debate in the Bundestag. As well as many intense committee meetings in connection with the Bundeswehr mission to carry out an evacuation from Afghanistan. It was no run-of-the-mill parliamentary debate. Because the evacuation from Kabul Airport was not an ordinary operation: it was the dramatic end, – unfortunately this has to be said so bluntly –, it was the failure of the 20-year-long international presence in Afghanistan, of the intensive efforts to achieve stabilisation. A failure that gave us some lessons to learn. And which a parliamentary Committee of Inquiry was established by a large cross-party majority to look into in the last legislative term. Over two and a half years of work, in 111 witness hearings – including with some 40 members of the Foreign Service – you, esteemed fellow members of the Bundestag, examined very closely the circumstances that had pertained back then.

But on the ground at the time there was one question above all: who can get out? Time was of the essence. Speed was imperative. The security situation at the airport was getting more precarious by the hour. The supply situation was dramatic. Who would know that better than you?

After the German Embassy had, in a huge joint effort, evacuated all the home-based staff, you decided to stay behind at the airport in Kabul. For many of the desperate people there, you were a glimmer of hope. Thanks to your selfless commitment and your unparalleled energy, you, in cooperation with the Bundeswehr, ensured that over 5000 people could be evacuated and brought to safety within just a few days. These included German and European nationals, but also many vulnerable Afghan local employees who had given us loyal service for many years and who now feared the barbarity of the Taliban.

You were the ones who, in an environment of extreme danger, tremendous logistical challenges and almost inconceivable emotional and physical stress, endured and together sought what seemed like impossible rescue avenues. There’s a word that has rather fallen out of fashion. And yet, to my mind, it exactly describes the quality in you that we are honouring today: heroism.

The heroism with which you ignored your own safety and welfare in order to protect others. With which you worked to the point of exhaustion. And even survived an armed attack on the airport before the Bundeswehr arrived. At that point at the latest, it would have been more than understandable, and absolutely human – and I say this as a reservist and former soldier in short-service engagement – if you had tried to take cover. But you did not. You stayed and endured. In order to get German nationals and other arrivals into the airport. All the while fully aware that you were risking your lives. That is heroism.

And I would like to add something else: you were all aware that not only were you in a life-threatening situation, but also that all eyes of the German public were on you. In a situation which might require you to take extremely difficult decisions on your own. Because, quite simply, decisions needed to be taken in a matter of seconds. And because the situation on the ground was so dynamic. Not freezing in such a situation, not shifting the responsibility onto others, not just waiting in silence. That, too, takes courage. And energy.

We all know that our Foreign Service is not an ordinary career. It is more than a job. Few employers demand as much flexibility, creativity, global mindedness and stamina from their staff members – and their families – as the Federal Foreign Office. And yet, your engagement went far beyond even what is “normal” in our Service. It deserves our special recognition. You set aside your own interests and your own well-being in favour of others. In that exceptional situation, across institutional boundaries, you stood together as “Team Germany”, alongside the Bundeswehr, alongside the Federal Police. Because only by working together was it possible to get the first landing permit for the Bundeswehr. Only by working together was it possible, in those dreadful conditions, to provide the best possible care for people arriving at the airport and bring them to Germany.

Mr Klawitter, you, too, played an essential part here – voluntarily and without a posting employer in the background. You could have left the country much earlier, but you stayed behind. Because you felt that you could and had to help. So, with your contacts on the ground and your local knowledge, you did everything you could to assist with the evacuation to Germany.

It is an honour for me today to present the four of you with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on behalf of the Federal President. I do so also on behalf of my two predecessors, who submitted the nomination to the Federal President for this honour following a proposal from the Staff Council.

And I expressly honour you as representatives of the many other colleagues who did an outstanding job in this very difficult time for our ministry. I would particularly like to pay tribute at this juncture to the colleagues in the crisis support team in Kabul.

Despite knowing how dangerous the situation was on the ground, you deliberately decided to fly to Kabul. In order to enable others to leave the country, you, too, put your own lives at risk. You deserve particular gratitude. And I would also like to thank the entire former staff of the Embassy in Kabul. You also helped to evacuate the Embassy and were instrumental in preparing for the evacuation of others to Germany. I am delighted that some of you are here with us today. In addition, my thanks also go to the colleagues in the crisis support team in Tashkent. And to everyone involved at the German Embassies in the neighbouring states. And finally also to the colleagues here at headquarters, in the Crisis Response Centre and all relevant directorates-general. The entire ministry stood united in this exceptional situation.

Colleagues, Mr Klawitter,

With your tremendous achievement and incomparable engagement, you have rendered outstanding service to our country. In presenting you with the Order of Merit, our country extends its profound gratitude to you.