German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been awarded the Eric M. Warburg Prize in Washington for her services to transatlantic relations. In her acceptance speech the German Chancellor said that the United States and Europe shared fundamental values such as human rights.
These shared values were what was special about transatlantic relations. "Human dignity is our benchmark," the German Chancellor said in the Library of Congress. But that was enough, she said. The United States and Europe had to be the driving forces and convince others, both when it came to the international economic and financial crisis, and climate policy and security policy.
Human rights are indivisible
Those were areas in which there were "huge challenges" to overcome the German Chancellor said. "We are shocked to see how Iran is dealing with peaceful demonstrators," Angela Merkel said, adding that human rights were indivisible and applied everywhere.
She was on the side of those who were fighting for their rights. And she would stand by the United States when it came to the Iran issue - be that in meetings with Iran or sanctions against Iran.
Charter for Sustainable Economic Activity
But shared values had to be implemented not only when it came to security issues, but also in the international economic and financial crisis. "We need multilateral institutions that take on responsibility in the globalised world," Angela Merkel said.
And she also called for principles that introduce the idea of sustainability in the business sector. For example in the form of a Charter for Sustainable Economic Activity.
As close as never before on climate change
The third key future-oriented topic Angela Merkel referred to was climate change. A climate protection agreement is to be adopted in Copenhagen in December. "Is the world capable of adopting a post-Kyoto agreement?" Angela Merkel asked and called on everyone to work towards a successful conclusion to the negotiations.
Angela Merkel welcomed developments in that area in the United States. There is an ongoing public debate in the United States on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which is to be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and also to establish emissions trading.
The United States and Europe were as close as never before on the issue of climate change - but they could get even closer. And here, too, Angela Merkel would like the United States and Europe to take the lead so that others could follow suit.
The Eric M. Warburg Prize has been awarded since 1988 by Atlantik-Brücke. The society was founded in 1952 with the aim of building a bridge between post-war Germany and the victorious power the United States. The focus of its work is on efforts to promote a better understanding between the two countries.
The Eric M. Warburg Prize is awarded to those who have rendered outstanding services in the pursuit of better transatlantic relations. Previous recipient have included Condoleezza Rice, Henry A. Kissinger, Helmut Kohl, Manfred Wörner and Otto Graf Lambsdorff.
Eric M. Warburg was one of the co-founders of Atlantik-Brücke. The banker, who was born in Hamburg, fled to the United States in 1938 to escape persecution by the Nazi regime. After returning to German he worked hard to promote a German-US friendship.
