Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has honored the US contribution to German reunification on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. "Without the leadership of America, there would have been no reunification," Maas said after a conversation with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Leipzig.
Maas had recently been criticized for not mentioning the significance of the US for reunification in a guest contribution to many European media.
He caught up with this on Thursday: "We owe our freedom and our unity decidedly you," said the SPD politician to Pompeo. At the same time, he praised the role of neighboring European countries and the perestroika policy of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
Pompeo once served as a US soldier at the inner German border
Germany and the US have a strong friendship, said Maas. "The US remains Europe's most important ally and Germany's most important ally outside of Europe." Maas and Pompeo had previously visited the village of Mödlareuth, which had become known as "Little Berlin" during the German division, through the middle of which until the reunification the inner German border ran.
Pompeo said he had seen a piece of history "of which I was a tiny little piece, too". The US Secretary of State had once served as a US soldier at the inner-German border and was deployed in the region around Mödlareuth. The division of Germany was very "painful", the reunification a "victory" of all, said Pompeo.
The US and Germany associate a deep friendship based on common values such as democracy and human rights. Securing these globally is the common concern, even if there are sometimes "different approaches".
Maas and Pompeo also reaffirmed NATO's importance for common security. "The US remains Europe's most important ally and Germany's important ally outside of Europe," said the German Foreign Minister.