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Speech by Ambassador Dr. Klaus Scharioth – October 3, 2007

Party: Fireworks capped the evening of celebration.

Deputy Secretary Negroponte, dear John and Diana,
Minister Tiefensee,
Mr. Ahearn,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Liebe Landsleute,
Dear Friends,

It is a great pleasure for my wife and me to welcome you tonight to the German Residence in Washington.
Tonight we are celebrating 17 years of German Unity. And we are glad that all of you took time out and came here on this wonderful evening to share our joy to be united again. United in freedom after almost half a century of painful division, a division which separated millions of families – like my own – clear through the middle, separated friends, separated a whole people, a whole country, and yes, also a whole continent.

It was a peaceful revolution that swept through Europe and transformed it forever. It all started with Solidarnosc in Poland. Hungary opened its borders in the summer of 1989; soon thereafter the velvet revolution began in Prague.

In October of that year, more and more people took to the streets in peaceful demonstrations every Monday in Leipzig. And then, on November 9, 1989, at last, the Berlin Wall came down. Round tables were formed to discuss the future. And it is my particular pleasure to have as my co-host today someone who participated actively in the Leipzig Round table deliberations: Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, who later was elected to be Mayor of Leipzig. Thank you for making this evening possible.

Today is not only a day of joy – it is also a day of gratitude. Gratitude to our Allies and Friends who helped unification to come about. But there is no country which made a more decisive contribution than the United States of America. It was the U.S. who realized early on that there was a historic opportunity. It was the United States who acted on this insight with determination and speed. You supported our idea of 2+4 talks immediately and you helped to convince others. I know from my own experience that without you and without the unwavering support of the American people, unification would not have been possible. And we won’t forget.

Therefore, we are especially pleased to have Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte as our guest of honor tonight. John and Diana, thank you very much for coming and for representing the United States in our midst tonight. I know that you had to rearrange your schedule to attend tonight, and I really appreciate the trouble you took to do so. It is a great pleasure for us to be able to celebrate and share this special day with you.

Tonight, however, we want not only to look back but also to gaze into the future. The challenges have changed, but the transatlantic partnership remains key to solving most of the problems. Energy security and climate change – which are the themes of our exhibitions tonight – are closely linked issues that represent just another compelling example of global problems requiring close cooperation, a joint approach and global solutions.

I am happy to say that we can look back on a number of events this year that provided huge momentum to this effort.

I am thinking, of course, of the Heiligendamm G-8 Summit, where world leaders committed themselves to combating climate change as a common responsibility of all of us, and to address it in the framework of the United Nations.

We continued this important work at the two major climate conferences which took place in New York and in Washington last week. I believe it is quite clear that there is a new awareness around the globe of the urgency of the problem.

It had already been a major topic at the successful EU-U.S. Summit in Washington in April. We also understand the important role that the business and scientific communities play in this field. That is why the U.S. State Department and the German Foreign Office convened the EU-U.S. Energy Technology CEO Forum here in Washington last March. Business leaders from the U.S. and Europe met under the auspices of Secretary Rice and Foreign Minister Steinmeier to discuss expectations and approaches to promoting new technologies for renewable energies and energy efficiency.

So when my co-host, Minister Tiefensee, proposed to focus this year’s event on climate and energy technologies in the new Federal German States, I felt this fits perfectly.
I would like to thank you, Minister Tiefensee, and your whole team – together with Invest in Germany, the new Bundesländer, and all the companies represented here – for supporting this event tonight. Our “Garden of Ideas” offers an excellent opportunity to experience the innovative character of the new Federal States. It is a great showcase for the immense development in the eastern part of Germany. In a combined effort, Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia present their modern infrastructure, which is fertile ground for both German companies and U.S. investors. It is my great pleasure to welcome all the Representatives of these Länder, including Ministers Schönbohm and Haseloff, as well as the members of Parliament. Thank you all for coming.

Our sponsors and many other companies have experienced that renewable energies and energy efficiency are very profitable market segments. This sector created in Germany jobs for 235,000 people, and more than 400,000 are expected for 2020. That means, and I quote our motto of tonight: “Good Climate for Business. Good Business for the Climate”.

You are invited to discover some of the surprising results of this successful partnership at the stands displayed here tonight.

To this end, I am very happy to welcome the many investors being here tonight. I would like to ask one of them, Mike Ahearn, CEO of First Solar from Phoenix, Arizona, a manufacturer of advanced solar modules, to say a few words later on. Maybe he call tell us about his experience with First Solar’s 120 megawatt solar module manufacturing plant in Frankfurt Oder which was inaugurated this summer. It is a striking example of a transatlantic project that creates jobs, increases shareholder value, and helps improve the environment.
Thank you, Mr. Ahearn, for being our guest tonight.

Before closing, I would like to thank the Army Music Corps Kassel 2 for their musical support. Their wide repertoire makes it possible that they play here at the upper part of the garden, I would say in a more classical mode, and also some swinging tunes down in the beergarden. In particular, I look forward to your interpretation of Händels Firework Music, which will be accompanied by a real firework starting at about 9:30 pm.

One last word: German-American Day is coming up on Saturday Oct. 6. You know that today one out of six Americans claims German ancestry. I think it’s fair to say that Germans and German Americans have profoundly influenced every facet of American life. That is why we have launched a new website www.GermanOriginality.com, a “virtual home” for everything related to our common heritage. Please visit.

And now let’s celebrate this special day and the friendship between Germans and Americans, between our two countries and our two peoples.

Thank you very much.

Ambassador Scharioth's Address on the Day of German Unity - Oct 3, 2007