The British King Charles III. paid tribute to the extensive German assistance to Ukraine in its defense against Russia. "Germany's decision to provide Ukraine with such great military support is extremely courageous, important and welcome," said the monarch in a speech to the German Bundestag on Thursday. "Germany and the UK have taken an important leadership role."
As the largest European donors, both countries have reacted decisively and made decisions that might have been unimaginable before, Charles said. The war of aggression against Ukraine brought unimaginable suffering to many innocent people. "Countless lives have been destroyed, freedom and people have been brutally trampled on. The security of Europe is threatened, as are our democratic values."
The appearance in the Bundestag was the central point of the program on the second day of the state visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla, who had come to the Reichstag building with her husband.
High-ranking guests in the Bundestag
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD), Bundesrat President Peter Tschentscher (SPD) and the President of the Federal Constitutional Court, Stephan Harbarth, accompanied the guests to the plenary hall.
The former Federal Presidents Joachim Gauck and Christian Wulff as well as the former Bundestag Presidents Rita Süssmuth (CDU), Norbert Lammert (CDU) and Wolfgang Thierse (SPD) followed the speech in the visitors’ gallery. The Bundestag interrupted its regular session for this.
Entry in the Golden Book of the City of Berlin
Before that, the entry in the Golden Book took place in the Hotel Adlon in the presence of the Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD). Crowds of people were waiting in front of the building to greet Charles III. to see. Several emphasized that they came by more by chance, but would now like to take the chance to see the king live: "Because it is his first official visit abroad as a king. He wants to improve relations between Great Britain and Germany, and I think that's a good thing ", said a British woman who had stopped at the Adlon on her way to work. "I'm not a big fan of the monarchy, but that seems like a big deal to me."
It is Charles' first trip abroad in his new role as king, which he assumed after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September.
On Wednesday, the royal couple had already triggered some enthusiasm after their arrival in Berlin. Charles and Camilla were greeted with military honors by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender at the Brandenburg Gate and cheered by onlookers. In the evening, the Federal President honored the monarch and his wife with a state banquet with 130 invited guests.
After the speech in the Bundestag, the state guest visited the arrival center for Ukrainian refugees at the former Tegel Airport together with Steinmeier. This ends the visit to the capital.
In the late afternoon, the King and Federal President make a detour to Brandenburg, which takes them to Finowfurt, north-east of Berlin. There they meet soldiers from a German-British engineer battalion from Minden. Not only is a conversation with Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke planned - there should also be action: the soldiers are assembling the last parts of a floating bridge over the Havel-Oder waterway and the British king is supposed to climb it.
Visit to the Ecovillage
Charles then drives to the eco-village of Brodowin, where he would like to find out more about how a particular type of cheese is made. Charles has been committed to biodynamic agriculture (demeter) for decades. As early as the 1980s, he switched to organic farming on his Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire.
Camilla and Büdenbender want to visit a social project in Berlin-Neukölln and the Komische Oper in Berlin-Mitte at the same time.
Politically, the visit is significant because three years after Britain's exit from the EU, a new chapter in Britain's relations with Europe and Germany is set to begin.
sign of approach
According to a survey, half of Germans see the visit of King Charles III as a sign of Great Britain's rapprochement with Germany after the Brexit alienation 37 percent "rather" and 13 percent "completely" agree. The visit to Germany is Charles' first trip abroad as the new British king.
According to the survey, 27 percent do not believe that Charles' visit means a rapprochement after Brexit (15 percent "tend to disagree", 12 percent "strongly disagree"). 24 percent did not provide any information.
