Germany's Foreign Policy on the Threshold of the 21st Century Speech by Dr Klaus Kinkel, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, before the Council on Foreign Relations New York, September 24, 1997

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Anyone who knows America knows the New York Council on Foreign Relations is the
number one foreign policy forum in the United States. It symbolizes the best traditions of
American cosmopolitanism - an unbiased view of world events and self-critical reflection on
your country's global responsibility. I am therefore very pleased to speak to you tonight.

Allow me to congratulate your journal "Foreign Affairs" on its 75th birthday. It is not only an
excellent magazine for specialists; it has been an important source for global politics this
century. For this reason, "Foreign Affairs" is required reading at the German Foreign Office.

In America people are fond of saying "never change a winning team." We Germans will stick
to our friendship with America. It is a unique success story. Without the U.S., Germany would
not have become what it is today - the freest and most stable democracy ever on German soil.
You always stood by us when the chips were down.

In the whole of Europe, America helped establish and defend freedom and democracy. To this
day, the vision of freedom unites Europeans and Americans. Across the world, the future
belongs to a free and open civil society. Europe and America share a common interest in
helping to achieve its global breakthrough.

We Germans will keep to the foreign policy fundamentals which have served us so well in
postwar history - responsibility rather than power politics, calculability, firm integration into
NATO and the European Union, and security and prosperity through a network of interests.
No more single-handed adventurism for us!

Eight years after the end of the East-West confrontation, the German foreign policy record is
positive. We have grown into a new role. Germany has been freed from the burdens of a
divided front line state and can now concentrate on its role as an integrating factor at the heart
of Europe. For the first time in our history, we are surrounded only by partners and friends.
We can feel that they expect more of us. United Germany´s greater political and economic
weight means that they harbor hopes that we regard as tokens of trust.

During this morning's speech to the UN General Assembly, I pointed out our global interests
and how we seek to fulfil the expectations placed in us. Respect for human rights, the fight
against poverty, the preservation of the natural sources of life and the non-proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction can only be achieved if the whole world works together.
Germany wants to help the United Nations become a truly effective instrument of global
multilateralism. The courageous reform package proposed by Secretary General Kofi Annan
presents us with a real opportunity to make this happen. I am pleased that the USA, along with
many other member states, regard united Germany as a candidate for a permanent seat on the
Security Council.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Germany in particular is expected to act as a locomotive towards further European integration.
We see ourselves as the spokesman for the young democracies of Central and Eastern Europe
on their way into the Euro-Atlantic structures. It was not least thanks to their quest for
freedom that Germany achieved its unity. The fact that we are now supporting them is not just
a question of historical and moral duty. Freedom, democracy and prosperity all over Europe
are in our own vital interest and, let me add, in the interest of America and the entire world.

This year NATO and the EU have opened their doors eastwards. I am confident that Poland,
Hungary and the Czech Republic will join NATO in time for its 50th anniversary in 1999.

Next year, the task will be to ratify the accession protocols. A broad consensus to this end
already exists in Germany. I hope these accessions will find cross-party support in the USA,
too.

The door to NATO will remain open for further members; I actively worked towards this goal
during the Madrid NATO summit. Thanks to the German delegation, the Madrid communiqué
pays specific tribute to the progress of the Baltic States, as well as of Romania and Slovenia.
We Germans feel a particular historical and cultural affinity with the Baltic region.

The European Union, too, will begin accession talks with the Central and Eastern European
countries in the next few months. The Commission has suggested that negotiations should first
of all be conducted with a few Central and Eastern European reformist countries and Cyprus.
The EU seeks to elaborate an active pre-accession strategy to enable the other candidates to
move closer to the Union more quickly, and it will adopt this strategy at the December
European Council summit in Luxemburg. This is the EU's reply to the ambitions of all these
countries to finally become part of the Western community of values, and thus none of them
must be excluded or marginalized!

When pondering the new order in Europe, we must also consider Ukraine and Russia. The
stability of Ukraine is vital to the success of the transformation processes in Europe. Following
my recent visit to Kiev, I share the concerns of those who fear a communist resurgence.
Therefore, we must now vigorously assist Ukraine with both reactor safety and economic
reform.

Russia belongs to Europe, historically and culturally. More than any other country, Germany
has financially assisted the reform process in Russia and the newly independent countries. We
have spent a total of 126 billion marks since 1989, on top of our efforts for the reconstruction
of eastern Germany. Germany was a driving force behind Russia's entry into the Council of
Europe and the G-7, and the NATO-Russia Founding Act is based on a suggestion I made as
early as March 1995. In two days' time, the NATO-Russia Council will conduct its first
meeting at ministerial level here in New York.

We must think of the new democratic Russia as a partner across the whole range of our
relations. NATO intends to define common future interests together with Russia. My vision for
the 21st century is of NATO and Russia playing on one team.

This partnership is already a fact in the Bosnia Contact Group. Russian and German soldiers
serve alongside American forces in SFOR; for Germany, this is a major step towards
international responsibility and normality.

The war in the former Yugoslavia has now affected Germany in a particular way. I have just
been in Sarajevo to attend the memorial service for the five Germans, five Americans, one
Briton and one Pole who lost their lives in the service of peace as a result of the tragic
helicopter crash. Over 345,000 refugees have found sanctuary in our country, more than in all
other Western nations put together. Since 1991 Germany has provided 17 billion marks in aid
for Bosnia and the refugees.

Unfortunately, the authorities in Bosnia are doing far too little to overcome hatred and ethnic
division. It is intolerable that Karadzic et al are still pulling the strings behind the scenes. He
and his ilk must be finally brought before the Hague Tribunal. They should not be able to sleep
peacefully.

As the prerequisite for further assistance,I demand political progress: the return of refugees
and expellees, the implementation of the Dayton agreement, but also a large degree of
autonomy for Kosovo. For the Balkans, too, the door to Europe is open. However, those who
want to move into the European house must adhere to the house rules on democracy, human
rights and the rule of law.

As early as 1913, a Carnegie Endowment report on the Balkans stated that peace in the
Balkans is a Euro-American task. The war in Bosnia would not have been ended without the
United States' firm commitment. In spite of our joint efforts, however, there is still no self-
sustaining stability in Bosnia. We must keep up the pressure from outside. Let me take this
opportunity to thank the US and German SFOR troops for their work in the service of peace.
Let me also state clearly: if this peacekeeping presence needs to be extended beyond next
summer, this too will be a joint Euro-American task. It remains a task for NATO!

Events in Bosnia and Albania demonstrate how indispensable the OSCE is even after the end
of the East-West conflict. We must use our experiences with the OSCE in order to create new
and improved mechanisms for conflict prevention and management in other parts of the world.
Disarmament and arms control remain key tasks of preventive diplomacy. The signing of the
Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel land mines has brought an all-out ban of these
insidious weapons within reach. These devilish things must disappear from the face of the
earth! I appeal to the U.S. today to accede to that convention.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
A central tenet of Germany's post-war foreign policy has been the desire for reconciliation with
those peoples who suffered most from Nazi barbarity. Today, I would particularly like to thank
those Germans who emigrated to the U.S. A good friend of mine, Professor Ernst C. Stiefel of
New York, died recently; he was one of the principal pioneers of reconciliation. In addition,
Mr and Mrs Kellen, originally from Berlin, have just donated a sizeable amount to the German-
American Center in Berlin. We want a cosmopolitan, modern capital that follows on from the
best traditions of Germany's history. I am therefore pleased about everyone in the USA who
finds a way back to Germany, to Berlin.

Germany's historic reconciliation with France is not only the motor of European integration; it
is also the inspiration and model for our rapprochement with Poland. In the short time since
1989, a strong bond of trust has been formed between Germans and Poles. When asked during
a survey which European people was closest to them, 72% of all young Poles named the
Germans. The German armed forces cooperate with their Polish counterpart as with no other
non-NATO country; Germany is Poland's largest foreign trading partner; and in times of acute
need, such as the recent Oder floods, we help each other quickly and without red tape.

The concluding element in our policy of conciliation with the Czech people is the German-
Czech Declaration, which I spent two years struggling to achieve as chief negotiator. I am thus
especially happy that this year I will spend October 3, Germany's National Day, in Prague.

A highly important part of the joint declaration is the Future Fund which will above all benefit
Czech victims of Nazism. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the German government has been
able to help victims in Central and Eastern Europe, too. We have set up foundations together
with Poland, Russia and Belarus and endowed them with 1.5 billion marks, thus reaching 1.4
million people to date.

I am in constant contact with Jewish organizations in the United States. We understand their
commitment to Eastern European victims of Nazism. After intensive talks, the Jewish Claims
Conference and the German government have agreed to form a commission that will seek
solutions to the question of compensating Jewish Holocaust survivors in the countries of
Central and Eastern Europe.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Fifty years after the Holocaust, the memories of the past in Germany have become stronger,
not weaker. The inauguration of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, in which I participated
in 1993, has prompted us to erect a Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. I was deeply moved by
reports on the opening of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York.

Let me add a few words on Scientology. Germany is a free country in which freedom of
religion is anchored in the constitution and thus inviolable. Those who compare the treatment
of Scientologists in Germany with the Holocaust are falsifying history and offending against
the dignity of the victims of Nazism and the feelings of their relatives; therefore, I utterly reject
such statements.

Relations with Israel and the Jewish people will remain special for us Germans - a matter of the
heart, of morality and responsibility towards history. Nowadays, Germany and Israel are
partners, indeed friends. Our Israeli friends tell us that their links with Germany are second
only to those with the USA. I think far too few people here are aware of this.

The obligation to stand up for Israel's security and viability is an essential part of Germany's
foreign policy. The peace process, in which we have participated from the beginning, must be
relaunched. Germany and the EU will give their wholehearted support to the United States in
this endeavor. People in the region must see peace improving their lives. With this in mind, we
have for many years been actively assisting the Palestinian Territories, something our Israeli
friends themselves agree with. Both sides must demonstrate a great deal of goodwill if the
hopes for peace are to be fulfilled: President Arafat must do everything in his power to prevent
terrorist acts, while the Israeli government must refrain from any action which might prejudice
the results of talks on the final status of the Palestinian Territories and undermine the trust of
the Palestinian people. The settlements issue demands that a moratorium be imposed in Har
Homa.

On Iran, we share the values of the Americans. We have drawn the consequences from the
Mykonos judgement, both bilaterally and within the context of the EU's common foreign
policy. With his comments on terrorism, confidence-building and regional peace, Iran's new
Foreign Minister Kharrazi has now struck a new chord that we welcome. It would be a good
thing if this meant that Iran opened the door once again to dialogue with the West. We hope
that the new Iranian government will support efforts towards Middle East peace, and, above
all, we expect Iran to clearly distance itself from terrorism, as the escalation of violence is the
greatest threat to the peace process.

Nowhere is the obligation towards cultural dialogue more pressing than in our relations with
the Islamic world. There can be no peace without cultural peace. Islam is not a monolithic
block, but has many facets, and thus we must perceive it in all its variety.

For us Germans, Turkey is a particularly important bridge to the Islamic world. As our
traditional friend and strategic partner at the crossroads of the Middle East, the Caucasus and
Central Asia, it remains on course for Europe. Therefore we want to offer Ankara a "Europe
strategy." However, at this time full EU membership is not a realistic proposition; Turkey's
course towards Europe is blocked, not for cultural or religious reasons but due to the human
rights and Kurdish situation, as well as the Turkish-Greek conflict and the Cyprus problem.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
America has always sought an equal partner of shared values in the world - the European
Union is emerging as just that. Without America's initial assistance through the Marshall Plan,
the European integration process would have been unthinkable. What began in Rome in 1957
was a radically new model of international policy that has remained our guiding star to this
day. In terms of its depth and breadth, European integration is still unrivalled.

As regards trade policy, united Europe has long become a serious global player. The Treaty of
Amsterdam brought us closer to a common foreign and security policy. Europe will
increasingly speak with one voice in the future.

We will take another epochal step towards strengthening Europe with the introduction of a
common currency. The euro will arrive, definitely and on time, on January 1, 1999, and the
stability criteria laid down in the Maastricht Treaty will be strictly adhered to! The European
Central Bank will pursue a policy of strict monetary stability along the lines of the Bundesbank.

Here in New York, this international financial center, our American friends may ask what the
euro will mean for them and, above all, for the dollar. The euro will come close to the dollar's
role on the world stage. It will help stabilize exchange rates between the major currencies,
which will have a positive effect on the world economy and the international monetary system.

The world has not only been transformed politically, but also economically as a result of
globalization and the revolution in information technology. I regard this as the second major
challenge for our modern times. This transition is of absolutely vital importance to Germany.
One in three German jobs depends on exports, whereas in Japan it is one in seven and here in
the U.S. only one in ten. Global free trade is item number one on our agenda. We are ready to
face global competition; the euro is proof of this.

I attach paramount importance to the economic dimension in revitalizing the transatlantic
relationship. For this reason I proposed that a transatlantic free-trade zone, TAFTA, be created
in the long term.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am aware that some doubt Germany's ability to reform itself. We must prove otherwise. We
are now attacking our problems with vigour. Noone should underestimate Germany's potential
for innovation. It remains a viable economy; we have an excellent infrastructure, a highly
educated population, social peace and people willing to work. We are opening ourselves to
innovation, such as environmental and genetic engineering. And traditional industries, for
example engineering and automobiles, are revamping their structures. The U.S. is playing an
active part in this via General Motors and Ford. These efforts are paying off, and the trend is
towards growth: 2.5% this year, 2.8% next year.

America helped Europe after the war because it believed in Europe. This belief was a good
investment. It will be worthwhile to continue to invest in Germany, economically, financially
and politically!

The great strength of the German-American friendship lies in joint action based on shared
values. It must be our primary aim to deepen this consensus.

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