On the occasion of German Unity Day, Germany’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Hans Jochen Schmidt issued an address that reads: “This year German Unity Day signifies two historical events linked with each other in contemporary history of Germany: we jubilantly celebrate our reunification and also remember the erection of the notorious Wall 50 years ago, on August 13, 1961. The national holiday is a good occasion to look back at the political developments that took place in your country. I consider the fall of the Wall as a proof of foresight and continuous efforts to bring about political changes. In order to achieve such changes, you must be ready for compromises, also to international partners and neighboring countries. Twenty years have passed since the reunification: Germany is a relatively young state that has managed to do much integration work in the domestic and European scenes in the past two decades, so we can take pride in that. The 20th anniversary of Armenia’s independence was celebrated recently, and taking this temporal connection into account, I am especially glad to celebrate German Unity Day together with my Armenian friends. The similarity in the destinies of the two nations as a result of the collapse of the USSR and the fall of the Wall demonstrates the great value that history has for peoples. 20 years ago the Germans reunified after a 28-year separation, while the Armenians founded their free country. At that time the Federal Republic of Germany was one of the first states to recognize Armenia after it had declared its independence, and we established political, economic and cultural relations, which have deepened subsequently in all spheres. I would like to express my special gratitude to our partner state Armenia for its participation in the German peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. Germany always appreciates participation in and assistance to efforts aimed at defusing conflicts. I am pleased to see close and successful cooperation between our two countries. In our bilateral relations, Germany is the second largest donor country for Armenia. This is gratifying, but it also obliges us to focus our efforts on the development of economic cooperation - for further German investments in Armenia. Our advisory activity (GIZ) and financial cooperation (KfW Bank) aim to pave the way for possible investments of German enterprises in Armenia. I wish Armenia resourseful persistence for resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict that has a negative impact on security in the South Caucasus and regional economic development, also for normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations”.

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