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Obama Welcomes Germany's Merkel Ahead of Berlin Wall Anniversary

By Stephen Kaufman

Angela Merkel, the first German chancellor to address both houses of the U.S. Congress in more than 40 years, used her November 3 address to thank the United States for its support and policies that helped to end Communist Party rule and the Cold War division of Germany. She also told U.S. lawmakers that there is "no time to lose" in finding a global agreement to combat climate change.

Before her November 3 address to U.S. senators and representatives, Merkel met with President Obama at the White House, where the president commented on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.

"This is a special moment for Chancellor Merkel, as somebody who grew up in East Germany, who understands what it's like to be under the shadow of a dictatorial regime, and to see how freedom has bloomed in Germany, how it has become the centerpiece for an extraordinarily strong European Union," Obama said.

Congratulating the chancellor on her recent re-election, Obama said Merkel has been "an extraordinary leader on the issue of climate change," and expressed gratitude for the sacrifices of German soldiers in Afghanistan and their continuing role to help "bring peace and stability to Afghanistan and to create the environment in which the Afghan people themselves can provide for their own security."

After her meeting with the president, Merkel addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress, becoming the first German chancellor to speak before both houses of Congress since West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in 1957.

Merkel told the legislators that her speech would have been unthinkable 20 years ago, when she lived in East Germany.

"The land of unlimited opportunity was for me, for a long time, impossible to reach. The wall, barbed wire and the order to shoot at those who tried to leave limited my access to the free world," she said.

"Today is first and foremost a time to say thank you," Merkel said, recalling how U.S. support and policies during the Cold War led to the end of communist rule in the east and the reunification of Germany in 1990. "I shall personally never, ever forget this," she said.

Merkel Urges Cooperation on Human Rights, Economy, Environment

Leaders in both the United States and Europe still need to work together to "tear down the walls of today," she said.

There must be zero tolerance for those who violate human rights and for the risk that countries such as Iran could obtain weapons of mass destruction, she said.

"A nuclear bomb in the hands of an Iranian president who denies the Holocaust, threatens Israel and denies Israel the right to exist is not acceptable," the German leader said. She reminded the lawmakers that November 9 is the anniversary not only of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but also of Kristallnacht in 1938 when Nazis pillaged Jewish homes and property and began "what later turned into the break with civilization that was the Shoah."

She called for greater U.S. and European cooperation for a better and more sustainable global economic order, including a successful Doha round of global trade talks.

Merkel also told Congress "we have no time to lose" in trying to protect the planet from the effects of global warming.

At the December 7-18 international meeting in Copenhagen on climate change, the international community must come together and agree that global temperatures must not increase by more than 2 degrees Celsius, she said. (See "World Leaders Gather in New York to Mull Climate Change Response ( http://www.america.gov/st/energy-english/2009/September/20090922160607lcnirellep0.1381342.html ).")

"To achieve this, we need the readiness of all countries to adopt internationally binding obligations" to limit their carbon dioxide emissions, Merkel said. The chancellor said she believed that if Europe and the United States show they are willing to adopt binding agreements, "we will also be able to persuade China and India to join in."

Merkel acknowledged that despite "their share of disagreements," Europe and the United States have shared values, including "a common idea of the individual and its inalienable dignity ... [and] a common understanding of freedom and responsibility."

"I am deeply convinced that Europe will not find a better partner than America; nor will America find a better partner in Europe," the chancellor said.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)