03.10.2011
Rede von StM Dr. Werner Hoyer MdB anässlich des Tages der Deutschen Einheit, Washington D.C. (engl.)
zum Herunterladen: Rede_Washington_031011.pdf (11,97 KB)
– Es gilt das gesprochene Wort –Ambassador,
Attorney-General Holder,
Members of Congress (and the German Bundestag),
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Liebe deutsche Landsleute,
Dear Friends,
Guten Abend und herzlich willkommen.
Ambassador, thank you very much for your kind words of welcome. It is a great pleasure and honor for me to be with you today in Washington – on a very special day in German history.
Today, we celebrate one of the happiest days of our history: October 3, 1990, when Germany was united again in freedom and in peace.
For each and every one of us the Day of German Unity is a day full of emotion. It is a day of happiness and a day of gratitude. It is a day of overwhelming joy, because today twenty-one years ago the painful division of Germany came to an end: a division, which had separated millions of families, friends, a whole people, a whole country, a whole continent and basically the world.
Shortly after the fall of the wall, the artificial division of Europe and the Cold War were history. Let’s celebrate that together.
And we are deeply grateful to all our friends and allies who helped unification to come about. Germans know and remember clearly that it was the United States of America and its leadership who supported Germany from the very beginning in plea for unity.
American support made an enormous difference – I would say: a decisive difference – to us in 1989 and 1990.
We are grateful and we will not forget.
Dear friends, it is essential to keep history and memories alive. Today, however, our partnership must be above all about the future.
The transatlantic agenda is long, and the issues facing us are not easy. The challenges to our security and prosperity we are facing in a rapidly changing world are enormous. What unites us with America and our European partners in dealing with these challenges are our common values, the belief in freedom, open and democratic societies, based on justice and the rule of law.
At this point, it is with great pleasure that I would like to particular thank Attorney-General Mr. Eric Holder to be our special guest of honor tonight. Who could represent the common set of values we share better than him?
When Europeans and Americans work together, when both sides provide the leadership that is needed, then, together, we can make a difference.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
German Unification in 1990 was possible only within the framework of the European Union, of European integration.
I believe that the European project is essential for peace and stability in Europe. I also believe that our prosperity depends to a large degree on the success of our common currency, the euro. Our ambition now must be to make our currency storm-proof for the decades ahead. And we will make the euro stormproof.
The decision of the Bundestag last week, approving the European Stabilisation Fund has sent a clear message of stability and confidence to the markets.
Europe can come out of this crisis more unified and stronger than before. And Europe will then be even better prepared to take on its role as an important political player and economic powerhouse, as a “partner in responsibility” as President Obama has said. And Germany can and will play a special role as a partner of the United States.
Tonight, however, I would like to invite you to focus not so much on the challenges that lie ahead of us, but on the great achievements of October 3, 1990: freedom and unity for my country and a historic triumph for freedom and justice.
I wish all of us a wonderful evening. Thank you very much.
