Christoph Sander, Germany’s ambassador to Togo, was the guest of the Lomé Diplomatic Club (CDL) on Friday, September 29th to discuss German diplomacy at the heart of Europe.

He recalled in a preamble the foundations of his country’s foreign policy: to avoid the mistakes of our grandfathers, to work for peace in Europe (Deutsche AußenpolitikisteuropäischeFriedenspolitik).

Mr. Sander then returned to the history of his country, Bismarck, the First World War, that of 39-45 with the Nazi regime and its horrors, the division of Germany with the Cold War and then the fall of the wall of Berlin.

Germany is now the main European economic power in the Union, but the diplomat stressed that it must also face new challenges. First of all, there is the Russian threat to a possible violation of the sovereignty of a European State; secondly, the need for the European institutions to respond to the economic and financial crisis. Although the situation has improved since 2008, the EU is not immune from a relapse.

Christoph Sander has drawn up a rather pessimistic picture of the situation in Europe. Great Britain is emerging from the Union, Poland and Hungary defy European constitutional consensus, Scots and Catalans demand their independence, and finally the migratory crisis is problematic.

In Germany itself, and for the first time since 1945, a far-right party entered the Bundestag.

‘The new German government must face the challenges I have just described. (…) I am sure that we will be able to resolve the great questions of our time if our politicians are guided by the same principles as Schumann, Monet and Adenauer, Mitterrand, Kohl and Genscher ‘, the ambassador concluded.

Initiated by Robert Dussey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Lomé Diplomatic Club is an apolitical reflection group that receives regular Togolese and foreign personalities from diplomatic, political and international organizations.