German president embarks on official visit to Canada

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greeted Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Ottawa on the second day of the German president’s four-day trip to Canada.

Originally slated as a state visit, Steinmeier’s hosts were forced to tone down his reception as a result of ongoing strikes. It is now an official visit, rather than a state visit.

Thus, the German president was afforded no military welcome upon arrival, nor will his scheduled state dinner — hosted by Governor General Mary Simon, King Charles III’s representative in Canada — take place Monday evening.

Instead, he had a private lunch at the home of the German ambassador.

Steinmeier says democracy also ‘critical infrastructure’

Steinmeier told Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon in Ottawa on Monday they have to avoid “being politically and economically vulnerable.”

“Our democracy is also critical infrastructure. Let’s preserve and protect it against attacks from within and without,” he said, in a reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Besides the Russian threat to the global order, the German president said that China’s “claim to economic and political power will shape the future of nternational relations in the long term.”

He said Canada plays an important role as part of efforts to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Germany and Canada shared a common goal as they both “want to expand our networking with the states in the region in order to reduce untilateral dependencies on China.”

The German president met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for talks as well. Trudeau praised Germany’s leadership and role in Group of Seven major economies and said both countries were committed to keep up the support for Ukraine.

Steinmeier is traveling with wife Elke Büdenbender, Minister for Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger and a large German business delegation.

Heading west to conduct business, to the Arctic to see climate change

The entourage will fly to western Vancouver Tuesday to visit a German fuel-cell manufacturer, take part in a roundtable discussion between German and Canadian business leaders, and get an introduction to a pilot project for smart energy systems currently being developed by the University of British Columbia.  

The visit will end Wednesday with a trip to Tuktoyaktuk, a 900-person community in the Arctic Circle, to see the effects of climate change firsthand.

Speaking to reporters en route to Canada Sunday night, Steinmeier said Germany and Canada had long been close partners: “But recent geopolitical changes — Russia’s war against Ukraine, the conflict between China and the West — all this has made us rethink… Looking back, if we say we knew we liked each other in the past, we now know we need each other more urgently than ever.”

Steinmeier’s visit was preceded by one last August from Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck. That meeting saw the two pen deals for longterm cooperation on the production and transport of hydrogen.

Germany has sought to diversify its energy and supply chains after getting caught flat-footed by its dependencies on Russia and China. In December, Berlin ratified the EU-Canada Trade Agreement (CETA) and is now keen on securing access to Canada’s rich supply of natural resources such as gas, oil and minerals.

js/jcg (AFP,dpa) 

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/german-president-embarks-on-official-visit-to-canada/a-65422597?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-xml-atom