German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier Calls for Unity in Face of Crisis | DW News

Oct 28, 2022 | Steinmeier opened with vivid descriptions of the horrors of war, noting that it had caused "the deepest crisis" that a reunified Germany has seen. He warned that "tougher, rough years are ahead of us." The speech came at a time of uncertainly for Germany, and Steinmeier touched on many of the issues weighing on the minds of many people in the country. These included a cost of living crisis amidst soaring inflation and an energy crunch, as well as the war in Ukraine.

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German President Apologizes for Nazi-era Massacre

YNET NEWS: During a diplomatic trip to Greece, President Joachim Gauck visited site of 1943 atrocity to pay respect, ask the families for forgiveness.

A visibly emotional German president laid a wreath Friday at a monument in northwestern Greece to villagers massacred by German soldiers during World War II, at the end of a three-day visit that combined political talks with efforts to bring closure to wounds from the German wartime occupation of Greece.

Joachim Gauck expressed "shame" at the 1943 atrocity at Ligiades, where Nazi troops executed dozens of villagers, including months-old babies, in reprisal for a partisan attack: "With shame and pain I ask the families of those murdered for forgiveness in Germany's name."

The German president emphased: "I pay my respects to the victims of the monstrous crimes mourned here and in many places across Greece." » | Associated Press | Friday, March 07, 2014

German President Joachim Gauck Uses Major Speech to Call for 'More Europe'

DEUTSCHE WELLE: President Joachim Gauck has used a nationally televised speech to call for greater cooperation among the European Union’s member states. The speech comes a year after Gauck took office as Germany’s head of state.

Speaking in front of 200 invited guests at his official residence, the Schloss Bellevue palace in Berlin, President Gauck called for what he described as “more Europe,” while at the same time addressing some of the fears of ordinary EU citizens, including those regarding the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis.

The president conceded that a "structural flaw led to an imbalance in the European Union which was only patched up by emergency measures, such as the European Stability Mechanism and the fiscal compact."

He also condeded that most of what the EU's 500 million citizens have read or heard about the 27-member bloc over the past few years has tended to be about the eurozone crisis.

However, he also noted that there were many more elements to the crisis than just the economic dimension.

"It is also a crisis of confidence in Europe as a political project. This is not just a struggle for our currency; we are struggling with an internal quandary too." » | Chuck Penfold | Friday, February 22, 2013