Mohammad praises model UAE-German relations

General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, yesterday received German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the delegation accompanying him at the Emirates Palace.

Shaikh Mohammad welcomed Schroeder and stressed the importance of his visit on developing UAE-German relations and cementing the existing bilateral ties.

Shaikh Mohammad praised the model relations between the UAE and Germany and their leaderships' concern for developing them in the interest of their peoples.

He said the visit is a good chance to enhance partnership and promote economic, commercial and investment between the two countries for the common interest of the two friendly peoples.

The German Chancellor expressed his satisfaction at the growing relations between the two countries.

Schroeder hoped the UAE will benefit from advanced German technological and scientific experiences in various fields.

The meeting was attended by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Information and Culture.

Soon after his arrival in the UAE on a state visit, Schroeder visited the tomb of Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

He was accompanied by Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Planning and Economy, Mohammad Ahmad Al Mahmoud, UAE Ambassador to Germany, and Jurgen Stelzer, German Ambassador to the UAE.

Meanwhile in Berlin, Christopher Tsobel, a former minister of state in the German foreign ministry, said Germany had been in the Gulf region for a long time.

Correcting the common belief that Germany had arrived too late in the region, he said diplomatic ties between Germany and Saudi Arabia were established in 1929.

"We did not play a big role in the development of the region due to the Second World War, the great influence Britain and France commanded in the region during that time," he said in a statement to WAM.

Commenting on the visit, Suddeutsche Zeitung, a German daily, said Schroeder wants to entrench Germany's position in the region in a way that would reflect Germany as a world power like the US and Britain.

"As Berlin looks forward to having a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, the country is of the view that having such a seat would demand the support of the Arab and Gulf countries which believe that the US hegemony on the UN resolution cannot be broken unless there is a country in the council which can say 'no' to the US."