Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

It is a great pleasure for me to be here and to celebrate the Day of German Unity with you.

Dear Geza,

Thank you very much for your invitation and kind words.

The journey from Paris to Brussels is short, both literally and figuratively.

Almost all the issues I deal with as a German ambassador in Paris have a Brussels dimension. And when I say Brussels, I am thinking not only of the EU but also of NATO. The fact that France has sent one of my most appreciated interlocutors at the Quai d'Orsay to Brussels in the person of David Cvach shows the importance that France attaches to NATO.

34 years ago, I celebrated the reunification of Germany as the last East German ambassador in Paris. I had been appointed at the age of 29 after the GDR's first democratic elections. As such I witnessed the demise of my country, a demise that almost all democratic forces had wished for without regret.

The fall of the Berlin Wall, the 35th anniversary of which we are celebrating this year, is part of a historical process whose beginning, for me personally, was marked by the Solidarność movement in Poland. As a 20-year-old citizen of the GDR, I was Polish at heart, full of admiration for our Eastern neighbours’ thirst for freedom and their extraordinary courage.

For the first time, I had the feeling that it might be possible to defeat the communist dictatorship and overcome the division of our continent.

The miraculous year 1989 marked the victory of freedom over dictatorship, of speech over silence, of truth over lies.

But it was also the beginning of a march into the unknown, for me and for the part of my homeland from which I came. Not all dreams came true, some hopes were dashed. But in almost every respect, the story of German reunification is a success story.

At the time, many of West Germany's partners were wondering what path reunified Germany would take. Would it remain true to its European vocation? Would it remain true to its transatlantic roots? It has remained so, as a pillar of the European economy, as a committed transatlantic ally, and as a builder of European unity.

Since 1989, times have changed a lot. At least since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many people have been saying that Western democracies are on the defensive. Populist parties are gaining votes, offering supposedly easy solutions to real challenges. Also in former Eastern Germany.

Russia's aggressiveness, not only against Ukraine, and China's considerable increase in political, military and economic power are putting our open democracies under pressure.

Should we be scared?

Let me risk a – French-inspired - historical comparison: After Napoleon‘s fall in 1815, when the Bourbons returned to France and tried to re-establish the Ancien Regime, Talleyrand coined the remarkable formula: „They have nothing learned, and nothing forgotten.“

But their attempt to turn the clock back was a failure, and after a certain time, democracy prevailed in France.

Today it is the Russian leadership that has nothing learned and nothing forgotten. Do we really think that old KGB hands like Poutine can build the Russia of the future?

Do they have anything to offer for a world in search of equality, participation, sustainability and justice?

And do the populists on the left and right, who are currently trying to win over voters with simple answers, have anything to offer apart from hatred and violence?

We shouldn’t be scared!

I'm a child of 1989. I was born in the GDR and my political consciousness was forged by people like Czeslav Milosc, Vaclav Havel, Bronislaw Geremek. I deeply believe in the superiority of open societies over all their enemies.

The fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years ago is a powerful symbol of the victory of freedom over oppression. The transatlantic alliance played a decisive role in making this victory possible. And I am certain that NATO will continue to make this contribution today and tomorrow.

We need a strong NATO against all those who want to turn back the clock of history. Who, like Poutine, want to scare us, but have nothing learned, and nothing forgotten.

A strong NATO for a Europe free and united.

Thank you again, dear Geza, for inviting me. Thank you for your friendship and 33 years of close cooperation.