German embassy marks national day, hailing 'ideal' Amman-Berlin relations

AMMAN — The German embassy in Amman on Tuesday celebrated German unity and 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall with a reception for invited guests from the Royal Court, the Jordanian Government, Lower House and the Senate as well as partners and friends.

German Ambassador to Jordan Birgitta Maria Siefker-Eberle highlighted in her speech the value of international cooperation and multilateralism, according to an embassy statement.

Conflicts in the region, she said, “are urgently waiting for multilateral engagement and answers, not for a walls-up policy”. 

Germany is currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, the statement said. 

During the UN General Assembly, the country organised an “Alliance for Multilateralism” event together with France and other partners. 

The ambassador said more than 50 Foreign Ministers, including Jordan’s Ayman Safadi, participated.

“Jordan has weight and longstanding experience in international negotiations and multilateralism, and is thus an ideal partner in this effort,” she said. 

“Our bilateral cooperation with Jordan has reached an unprecedented peak in the last two, three years and we are proud of that. This is reflected in the intensity of high-ranking visits and visits on the business level from Germany to Jordan, as well as in the number of German tourists to Jordan, which doubled in the last two years,” she continued. 

Only three weeks ago, His Majesty King Abdullah travelled to Berlin, where he met with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“We are also celebrating 60 years of Jordanian-German development cooperation this year. Our cooperation has always been geared towards giving access to as many Jordanians as possible and later also to Syrian refugees: First, access to water, then to education including vocational training and now also to employment. 

“So far, the water supply for 2.8 million Jordanians and Syrians could be improved with our support, 1.4 million people could be provided with cleaner drinking water, 37 new schools have been built and we are now starting a new programme over 100 million euros for further school construction,” the statement quoted Siefker-Eberle as saying.

Germany has “firmly established” itself as the second-largest bilateral donor to Jordan. 

In governmental talks this week, a “record” volume of 729.4 million euros, including budget support for water and education amounting to 400 million euros, will be commissioned, the statement read. 

Siefker-Eberle concluded: “We all acknowledge and are thankful for the great effort Jordan is undertaking in hosting a huge number of Syrian refugees, and this now for eight years. We have therefore stepped up our cooperation considerably.”

To visualise 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, an installation created by the Jordanian artist Khaldoun Douad and the Berlin-based artist Witold Stypa was displayed, according to the statement. 

The artwork was created during the Rowaq Art Week from May 26 until June 3 in Fuheis and highlights the close relations between Germany and Jordan.