The United States was the Partner Country of Hannover Messe 2016 which took place from April 24-29.
This was the first time that the United States participated in Germany’ largest Trade Fair, with over 4500 U.S companies and enterprises as a Partner Country.
Seethe full coverage of President Obama’s visit to Germany and his meeting with the Bundeskanzlerin Dr. Angela Merkel, by Germany’s Diplomatic Mission to the U.S.
On the Importance of Transatlantic Partnerships and TTIP:
Federal Foreign Minister Dr. Steinmeier travelled to Washington and met with the U.S Secretary John Kerry. The visit was to strengthen the Transatlantic Solidarity as announced by German Foreign Office.
In the recent years the United States and Germany have intensified their Diplomatic cooperation in many areas covering rage of global issues and the crisis.
The visit was to emphasize the importance of Transatlantic Relations, while discussing the influx of global challenges, including Iran and the Nuclear issue,Ukraine crisis, and the global Security.
The Foreign Minister Dr. Steinmeier highlighted also the close Bilateral Relations between Germany-USA by stating:
“Transatlantic Coordination is more important than ever”
During her visite die Bundeskanzlerin elaborated that Germany and the USA more than ever will stay in the united front in regard with the crisis in Ukraine.
The Chancellor emphasized that Germany and US are standing for the same principles, including territorial integrity. “I can only say that if we abandon this territorial integrity, we will not be able to retain Europe’s peace order.” highlighted Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The two Leaders also discussed wide rage of global issues including: the global economy; the upcoming G7 Summit in June 2015; the positive outcomes of Free Trade Agreement between the United States and EU.
Before leaving for Ottawa, die Bundeskanzlerin once again thanked the USA for its crucial role in Germany’s reunification and concluded: “We cooperate closely on efforts to resolve the conflicts in the world. The Transatlantic partnership is indispensable.” Please see also the Role of U.S Leadership in Germany’s reunification:
Secretary of State John Kerry had a visit in Berlin to meet with Bundeskanzlerin Dr.Angela Merkel and Außenminister Dr. Steinmeier for discussing range of issues including closer partnerships between the two countries.
The Highlight of the statements of Bundeskanzlerin Dr.Angela Merkel and Secretary of State John Kerry
“There are a number of International issues that will be on the agenda of our talks today – indeed, international issues that are on the agenda for all of us in this year 2014. There are many of those tasks, many of those issues, many very demanding issues, and all of these can only be mastered by us if we act together, if we act in close partnership and coordination with our partners and friends in the United States of America.” Bundeskanzlerin Dr.Angela Merkel
“President Obama, our administration, the American people have great respect for your leadership, and we appreciate enormously what Germany is doing on every single issue of critical importance today. I’m also mindful that I’m coming here today where I visited the old wall and met with some of your young kids who were asking questions about the future, none of whom had been born during that period of time. They were all post-Cold War. And so even as we celebrate the fall of the wall and all that it symbolizes, it was very clear to me today, as it is to America, that the story of Germany is not the past – it’s the future, and what you are doing to define that future, leading Germany on so many issues to be a global leader. And I want to thank you, because on Ebola, you are contributing people, expertise, medivac capacity now, money, and Germany is one of the leaders in the effort to deal with this challenge.” Secretary of State John Kerry
Außenminister Dr. Steinmeier and Secretary Kerry at the press conference, Berlin 22. October 2014
An article by Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany Dr. Steinmeier on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Aspen Institute in Germany. The article was Published in the German weekly newspaper ‘Die Zeit’ on 9 October 2014.
“A world in disarray needs a strong Transatlantic Alliance”
On a 40th anniversary, we tend to pat each other on the back and look back fondly at the past together, often with a hint of melancholy. We could certainly do so too on this occasion. When the Aspen Institute Germany was founded 40 years ago, the Cold War was at a crucial turning point. Thanks to the prudence of Leading Politicians in the United States and the Soviet Union, but also thanks to Willy Brandt’s far sighted “Ostpolitik”, both sides had become open to dialogue. The past four decades have brought historical achievements. The Iron Curtain is gone, Germany is reunited, Europe is no longer divided, and our societies on both sides of the Atlantic are now freer than ever before.
And all of this would have remained a mere dream without the United States and the close partnership between our two countries. For 40 years, the Aspen Institute in Berlin has accompanied this process and included civil society in it. The Aspen Institute, which was still based at Wannsee at the time, was a place where government officials, intellectuals and scientists from both sides of the Iron Curtain could exchange views and establish the trust needed for a political process of this dimension. “Trust” is a word that often comes up these days when people talk about German US relations. Surveys of recent months show that Germans are critical of the US. Their viewpoint seems to be defined by scepticism and mistrust. We do not need to look so far to realise that the transatlantic relations that were a certainty for my generation – the generation born in post war Germany – can no longer be taken for granted today. Any of us with teenage children will long since have noticed that something is changing. In a multipolar, globalised and digitised world, the discussion on the 2003 Iraq War and the debate on the NSA are more relevant to many young people in particular than the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift. For the younger generations, the land of opportunity seems to be just one option among many in a world of unlimited possibilities. At the same time, it would be wrong to simply accept these developments as the result of a changed world.
After all, we need each other more than ever in a world where there are so many complex and concurrent crises and so many unpredictable players. In hindsight, the “end of history” predicted after the end of the Cold War was more the start of the search for a new order – a search that does not seem to be over yet.
With the conflict over eastern Ukraine, the question of war and peace has returned to the European continent. Not far from where we live, the terrorist barbarity of ISIS is not only endangering Iraqi statehood, but also poses a grave threat to the entire Middle East and to us here in Europe. Meanwhile, people in West Africa are battling an invisible enemy, which does not only have the potential to bring turmoil to the entire continent, but is also threatening to become a global danger.
No country can overcome such crises and conflicts alone. Many people are now looking to Germany. As the largest country in Europe, a country with a stable political system and a strong economy, there are great expectations of us. Right from the start of my second term of office as foreign minister, I have campaigned for German foreign policy to be more active. In this context, the use of military means must always be the last resort – but it must be an option. I believe that German foreign policy has matured by taking on greater responsibility. It may come as a surprise, but the same surveys that reveal an increasingly critical stance towards the US among Germans also show that Germans and Americans want the other country to play an important role on the international stage.
The joint fight against ISIS shows how we complement each other in a meaningful way and how, in cooperation with European countries, we can also persuade nations in other regions to act in concert with us. After giving the matter careful consideration, Germany decided that it would not only provide Iraq with humanitarian assistance, but that it would also support the country by supplying arms to the Kurdish security forces. This decision, which did not come easily to us, has been particularly well received in the United States. From the start, Germany has endeavoured to foster dialogue between Moscow and Kyiv in the Ukraine crisis. Such dialogue is essential in the search for peaceful solutions. The fact that Berlin can play a different role to Washington, and is also actively taking on this role, is a further sign of how we work together as equals.
We should tackle the difficult questions in our bilateral relations with the same determination that we use to address major global issues together. We need to meet each other as equals in our exchange and discussions on shared values, mutual trust, a balance between security and freedom, and the future that we want for ourselves on both sides of the Atlantic. Otherwise, the danger will be that in the long term, a partnership of convenience will be all that remains of the transatlantic friendship that developed over decades. Transatlantic relations will need to be firmly established at the heart of our societies in order to continue supporting the bridge across the big pond in the coming decades.
We face a huge task. The Aspen Institute Germany has accompanied the transformation of Germany closely in the past four decades, not only forging close ties between Washington and Berlin, but above all making a name for itself as a builder of bridges between East and West. Creating trust is at the heart of what the Aspen Institute does. And this is precisely what we will continue to need so urgently in the next 40 years.
On Transatlantic Relations: Europe and the United States
By Catherine Stella Schmidt
In a world, where environmental, economic and humanitarian turmoil, added to proliferation of Nuclear and Cyber threats are looming on the horizon, more than ever E.U and the United States must team up and strengthen their close relations. More– Research and Educational; Political and Legislation; Economic and Commerce; Military and Security integration will be necessary, as we face so many unknown elements of the 21st century. The relation between Europe and the United States has not been established based on series of signed Treaties or economic agreements, but this is a relationship, which was born with the existence of the New World: “The United States of America” –and is cherished by Europe who sees this super power as a direct creation of its own thoughts and adventure. Yes, we have roots and relatives on both sides, even though we might not be aware of them. Europe has been and remains to be so the United States real Heritage and its roots. Every aspect of history and every fact attests that the EU-US relation is the most complementary and complete one. Between Europe and the United States– there is a relationship that can be only portrayed as an unconditional commitments, a sense of harmony and creeds that delve deeper than, it can ever be described, touching every aspect of their beings. And this relation, will be always magnified with our common Ideals; values and principles; culture and our political thoughts.
At the Empirical level: more facts, which could substantiate further the significance of Transatlantic Relations. * Europe and U.S are account for over 50% of global GDP (the White House press release 2010). * The E.U and the U.S have the largest bilateral investment and trade relations. The Transatlantic trade and investment amount to over $1 billion a day. * Only in 2009, European capital was 64% of the foreign investment in United States. * About 50% of U.S investment goes to E.U States as well. (The White House press release 2010). * In recent years the transatlantic direct investment has created over 14.million jobs on the both sides of the Atlantic (announced by the U.S Secretary of Commerce in 2010. * As indicated by European Union in 2010 in the EU- US Summit, the United States remains the European’s largest trading partner for both goods and services.
Further: • E.U good exports to the U.S in 2009: €204.4 billion • E.U goods imports from the U.S in 2009: €159.8 billion • E.U services exports to the U.S 2009: €119.4 billion • E.U services imports from the U.S in 2009: €127.0 billion • E.U investment flows to the U.S in 2008: €121.4 billion • U.S investment flows to the E.U in 2008: €50.5 billion (Announced by the E.U in 2010) From the crises and conflicts in various regions and countries: Africa, Asia, the Middle-East, Kosovo, Georgia, Afghanistan, while the U.N struggled to get the other Nations for the aid on its board, Europe and United States in almost all 20 and 21 century’s Peacekeeping operations, have shouldered the main parts of the economic and peacekeeping efforts, to de-escalate the Humanitarian crisis and the Global conflicts.
The United States and Europe, as the Pillars of Western Civilization, not only have led the World towards a greater transformation but also paved the path for the global journey towards Democracy, Freedom and Human Rights. While these are solely a few aspects of EU-US relations, yet it has to be emphasized that in reality our History, Philosophy, Cultural and Political spheres are so much attached to each other– so much embedded by one, another, that the rest of the world sees us as one– on every front. We have to recognize this importance. Thus it is necessary to keep these ties as strong as ever for maintaining our global Security, Prosperity, and the survival of Western Civilizations, which alone stands on the Ideal of the Rights of Mankind and defending Humanity.
Copyrighted Material This article was first published in Europe’s World 2012
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President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Prime Minister of the Lower Saxony Stephan Weil (right), Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel (left) and U.S Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker ( second from left) Hannover Messe April 24, 2016 © U.S Department of Commerce
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