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VISITING GERMANY: BERLIN - Barack Obama to visit Berlin ©EAA - European Athletics
VISITING GERMANY: BERLIN – Barack Obama to visit Berlin
On 18 and 19 June US President Barack Obama is expected in the German capital for his first visit during his term of office. In 2008 as a presidential candidate he spoke to around 200,000 people at the Victory Column monument.
Now he is coming at the Chancellor's invitation, just a few days before the 50th anniversary of the famous Kennedy speech ("Ich bin ein Berliner").
On 19 June Obama will speak at Pariser Platz in front of the Brandenburg Gate. For many days Berlin and the Federal Government have been conducting intensive preparations for the visit. As well as holding political talks, the President will also meet schoolchildren.
He will be welcomed to Schloss Bellevue by Federal President Joachim Gauck and to the Federal Chancellery by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
For Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, the visit reflects "the significance of the German-American relationship in a rapidly changing world". He said that the partnership with America was essential for Germans and Europeans "in order to join forces in upholding peace, security and prosperity in the age of globalization".
In a video message the Chancellor also called for further development of the friendship with the United States to move relations into a new sphere.
Moving even closer together with a free-trade area
This chiefly involves the project of an EU-US free-trade agreement. For Federal Foreign Minister Westerwelle, the visit of the US President is also the "symbolic kick-off" for negotiations on this agreement, the aim of which is soon to generate more growth and jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.
On 17 June, during the G8 Summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, the European participants and the US President gave the green light for the start of negotiations on this Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). They are due to begin in Washington on 8 July.
Source: Federal Foreign Office Germany
Barack Obama to visit Berlin
Obama visits Berlin
VISITING GERMANY: BERLIN – Chancellor Merkel to Welcome President Obama in Berlin on June 18 and 19
More about the anniversary program:
VISITING GERMANY: BERLIN – 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s visit to Berlin
VISITING GERMANY – BERLIN – Fair Play. The Allies and Sports – till april 18, 2013
