Celebrating 26 years of German reunification

We laud the courageous people who brought about a peaceful revolution in Eastern Europe and triggered the fall of the Berlin Wall. They stood up for their fundamental freedoms and rights, for the rule of law and true self-determination – the pillars of democracy and the foundation of our prosperous social, economic and political system.

These events paved the way for German reunification and marked the end of the Cold War and European division. 

Our hopes, however, that – with the end of the bipolar cold war system – a more peaceful and solid world order would arise, have not materialised. Instead, we are facing multiple new challenges such as the asymmetric threat of international terrorism and a growing number of armed conflicts worldwide, in particular in the war-torn Middle East. Today, around 60 million people fleeing from war, repression and humanitarian crises need our solidarity and assistance. Even in Europe, where we have enjoyed the longest period ever of peace, stability and prosperity, old conflicts and nationalist reflexes are surfacing again. Moreover, we are facing serious new global challenges such as climate change, natural disasters, energy security, water management and food safety.

To face these multiple challenges in an increasingly interdependent and global world, international and regional cooperation is more important than ever. There are no easy solutions to major challenges such as the refugee and migration crisis or climate change – and certainly no national ones. We can only solve them together in a joint and sustained effort.

Germany is therefore strongly committed to closely engaging with partners around the world and is prepared to take responsibility and to make an active contribution to peace, security and prosperity in Europe and beyond. We do so as an active and responsible partner in the EU and the UN as well as in various other organisations such as the G-7, G-20, Nato and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). European integration remains the undisputed centrepiece of our foreign policy – even more so after the Brexit referendum – and we remain strongly committed to EU solidarity and cohesion. This year, in the midst of the Ukraine crisis, Germany chairs the OSCE, while next year we will also hold the G-20 presidency and, within the UN, play an active role for achieving its Sustainable Development Goals and implementing the Paris Climate Agreement. 

Thailand is one of our closest partners in Southeast Asia. In the UN and in other international forums we constructively cooperate on many issues. Thailand has repeatedly demonstrated its strong commitment to multilateral cooperation by hosting important international meetings such as June’s OSCE Asian Conference on Strengthening Comprehensive Security. In October, Thailand will host the 21st EU-Asean Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, which aims to raise the partnership between the EU and Asean to the level of a “strategic partnership”, enhancing strategic and security policy cooperation. Moreover, Thailand – currently chairing the G-77 group of developing countries – is a valuable partner in our efforts to tackle climate change and implement the sustainable development goals. 

Our close partnership on these global issues is equally reflected in our strong and multifaceted future-oriented bilateral relations, officially established more than 150 years ago. Thai-German economic cooperation is a long success story. Germany is Thailand’s most important trading partner in Europe and more than 600 German companies successfully do business in Thailand. Cooperation projects cover a wide range of issues with a special focus on vocational training, environmental protection and climate-friendly new technologies, renewable energies, food safety and economic sustainability.

Thailand today is home to some 30,000 permanent residents from Germany and a destination for about 700,000 German tourists every year. At the same time, some 50,000 Thais have found a new home in Germany. These numbers offer an impression of the Thai-German friendship’s intensity, which transcends all fields of cooperation.

With almost 200 different cooperation projects between German and Thai universities and rising numbers of exchange students and teachers, research and academic cooperation is particularly well developed. For more than 50 years the Goethe-Institut Thailand and its partners have offered German language training and a huge variety of cultural projects – triggering a lively cultural exchange. Please do pay a visit to Soi Goethe and check out the institute’s media centre or see a performance in the newly renovated Goethe Hall with its manifold cultural offerings. 

While praising the excellent bilateral relations, I am, however, very much aware that it is above all the intense people-to-people contact that makes the difference. Numerous private associations, friendship groups and outstanding individuals in both our countries deserve credit for the deep and strong friendship between Thailand and Germany, because they are the ones who unremittingly work to bring people together. Marking the anniversary of German reunification with our friends and partners here in Thailand is, therefore, also an excellent opportunity to celebrate the long-lasting friendship and relations between our people and nations. 

 

Peter Prugel is Germany’s ambassador to Thailand.