Congratulations to the DFB and to all of the cities that will be hosting the European Championship for their outstanding bid. This will be an opportunity to show what we stand for in Germany – for cosmopolitanism and tolerance, freedom and respect. We should work together to make the European Championship a tournament for all Europeans. I am particularly pleased that the DFB is seizing the European Championship as an opportunity to be one of the first national football associations to include a human rights strategy in its statutes. This sends the right signal in these times.

I would also like to pay tribute to Turkey for its most excellent bid. We are counting on the people in Turkey and on the people of Turkish origin in Germany to help make the European Championship a celebration of football for the whole of Europe.