German unity: An event of the past or a hope for the future?
While preparing to celebrate – on October 3, 2016 - the 26th anniversary of German unity, I tried to recall the moment in which Germany was peacefully reunited in complete consent with neighbours and the world at large. I remember the collective expectations and personal emotions associated with that event. We dreamt of peace, prosperity and global stability. Can we draw from the past at a time when the notions of security and stability in international relations seem to vanish? Is there anything we can take for granted today?
We might wonder whether we could have taken peace and stability for granted at that time. We certainly could not. But the real crises of the present, the multiple and complex wars in the Middle East, military aggression in Eastern Europe, major shake-ups in the European Union, fueled by a growing sense of helplessness and fear, require us to assume responsibility for peace rather than merely dreaming of it.
Germany, therefore, has taken the chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2016. The seemingly desperate situation in Eastern Ukraine has left the main opponents in this conflict with a single tool of conflict management: the OSCE. It is the firm conviction of the Chairman in office, German Foreign Minister Steinmeier, that we have to think security jointly again in order to diffuse tensions and develop viable steps towards a settlement and eventually peace.
The British vote to leave the European Union has saddened us but it is not the end of the Union. On the contrary: jointly and effectively addressing the main is- sues such as internal and external security, youth unemployment and growth and the economic and fiscal regulatory framework will reveal the strength inherent to a true partnership in the Union. Germany is prepared to contribute to this process.
Peace and global stability will not be achieved without the acceptance – by all states and players – of binding, universal rules. Nations have tasked the United Nations to develop, establish and implement such rules and it is our collective duty to contribute to this common aim. Germany stands ready to take on theresponsibilities of a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council again in 2019/20.
Today, while we still cannot take peace and stability on this globe for granted,the peaceful reunification of Germany 26 years ago can be a symbol of hope for those who believe in “unity, justice and freedom” as laid down in the text of the German National Anthem. On this basis, listening to each other and joining hands to work together,we can make this world a better one. German Ambassador to Oman