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Mr. President,
Mrs. Obama,
Mr. Vice-President,
Ministers,
Distinguished guests, fellow countrymen,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Many thanks for this overwhelming reception. Allow me to say, and I say this on behalf of our entire delegation, that I am very happy to be back in Washington, DC. It was 20 months ago, around 20 years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall that I had the great honour of speaking to both houses of the US Congress, a wonderful moment. I am certain that I will always remember today, too.

Mr. President, this evening I will receive the “Presidential Medal of Freedom” from you. This is an extraordinary sign of recognition, also and especially for all of Germany. It shows the very special close relationship between our two countries. We Germans know that we have a true friend in America. Our friendship has matured over many decades and it is reinvigorated and expressed anew every day.

Here in the United States, more than 600,000 Americans work for German companies and the situation in Germany is the same. There are many exchange programs in schools and universities, winning over innumerable young people to build bridges between our countries also for the future. Since the Second World War, 17 million members of the American armed forces and their families have lived in Germany, performing an invaluable service.  We continue to welcome the more than 50,000 US soldiers still in Germany today with open arms.

I could list many other examples for how closely our two countries are bound together, but I want to emphasize one thing above all: when walls and barbed-wire divided Germany and Europe, America stood resolutely on the side of freedom – and on our side as we Germans made our way to unity and freedom. We will never forget that.

Today our bonds of friendship are just as strong as they were 20 years ago. With this as our foundation, we can meet our common challenges. As partners in responsibility, Germany and the United States are working together for a peaceful and stable Afghanistan. We are pulling together to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear arms. In North Africa we are supporting the drive towards freedom. In the Middle East we are supporting the efforts to breathe new life into the peace process. Together we are tackling the effects of the global financial and economic crisis.

Yes, Germany and the United States share the same values: democracy and freedom, rule of law and universal human rights. Because we share these values, close partnership and friendship with the United States is just as fundamental to our concept of the German state as European integration. They go together. Both are and will remain the pillars of German foreign policy.

Mr. President, dear Barack, speaking to over 200,000 people in Berlin in 2008, you said “America has no better partner than Europe.” Now it is my turn to say: “Europe and Germany have no better partner than America.”

Thank you very much.