Status: 03/30/2023 1:06 p.m
In a speech to the Bundestag, King Charles III. recognized German support for Ukraine. She was “brave, important and welcome,” said the monarch. He emphasized Germany and Great Britain’s leading role.
The British King Charles III. paid tribute to the extensive German assistance to Ukraine in its defense against Russia. “Germany’s decision to provide Ukraine with such great military support is extremely courageous, important and welcome,” said the monarch in a speech to the German Bundestag. “Germany and the UK have taken an important leadership role.”
As the largest European donors, both countries have reacted decisively and made decisions that might have been unimaginable before, Charles said. The war of aggression against Ukraine brought unimaginable suffering to many innocent people. “Countless lives have been destroyed, freedom and people have been brutally trampled on. The security of Europe is threatened, as are our democratic values.”
In his speech, which was partly in German, the monarch addressed the close ties between the two countries – from trade in the days of the Hanseatic League to cultural and other aspects. He mentioned, for example, the Beatles and the German band Kraftwerk, the comedians of Monty Python or England’s victory over Germany in the final of the 2022 European Women’s Football Championship.
The appearance in the Bundestag was the central item on the second day of the state visit by King Charles and his wife Camilla, who had come to the Reichstag building with her husband.
Royal visit to Germany
Valerie Krall, ARD London, morning magazine, March 30, 2023
Bas emphasizes German-British ties
The President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas, also gave a speech in Parliament to welcome the king. She emphasized the strong German-British bond and cooperation. “Britain and Germany are and will remain close allies and trusted partners,” she said. This also applies after Great Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.
Bas gave thanks for the United Kingdom’s “indispensable and major contribution” to the liberation of Europe from Nazism and its friendship with Germany after World War II. The Speaker of Parliament also remembered the king’s mother, who died last year. Throughout her life, Queen Elizabeth II has campaigned for reconciliation between the two countries.
Charles and Camilla came to the plenary hall accompanied by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The former Federal Presidents Joachim Gauck and Christian Wulff, among others, took part in the event on the VIP stand.
The royal couple travels to Hamburg
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier received the royal couple with military honors on Wednesday after their landing at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport – for the first time in front of the Brandenburg Gate. The royals were greeted at the airport with a 21-gun salute, two Eurofighters flying overhead and a military guard of honor.
On the third and final day of the state visit, the royal couple will travel to Hamburg on Friday. For Charles, it is the first trip abroad in his new role as king, which he assumed after the death of his mother in September.
King Charles III holds one in the Bundestag
Andreas Reuter, ARD Berlin, March 30, 2023 1:14 p.m