Europe 1 with AFP 17:39 p.m., March 30, 2023
In Germany for his first trip abroad as king, Charles III lamented Thursday the return of the "scourge" of war in Europe by evoking the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a historic speech to German deputies, even if the allies can "draw courage from their unity".Charles III lamented Thursday the return of the "scourge" of war in Europe by evoking the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a historic speech to German deputies, even if the allies can "draw courage from their unity". Russia's war on Ukraine has caused "so much unimaginable pain to so many innocent people," said the British monarch, the first monarch to speak in the Bundestag. It constitutes a "threat" to the security of Europe and "our democratic values", he added in this intervention of about half an hour held mainly in German and which ended with a standing ovation.
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First trip abroad as king
The king praised in particular the deliveries of heavy weapons to Ukraine by Germany, a country deeply pacifist since the horrors of Nazism and which has long hesitated to take this step. This speech was one of the highlights of Charles III's three-day visit, accompanied by Queen Consort Camilla on his first trip abroad as king. His visit is under the sign of the bonds of friendship between the two countries and is an important European gesture after the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
In the wake of his speech to the Bundestag, he went to the former Tegel airport in the west of the capital to meet Ukrainian refugees who are temporarily accommodated there. Earlier, he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and then the mayor of the capital, Franziska Giffey.
Crowd bath at a Berlin market
The royal couple also took the time to take a crowd bath at a Berlin market with its many organic food stalls. They shook hands again, distributing "wie geht's?" or "how are you?" around (how are you okay?), exchanging a few words with shopkeepers or the public, stopping to buy honey or cheese. Later in the day, the king is due to hold talks with a German-British battalion and travel to an "ecovillage" in Brodowin, some 60 km from Berlin.
The stay bears the imprint of the theme of ecology, which Charles, 74, has been the champion across the Channel for years. This is not the first time that Charles has found himself at the podium of the German lower house. He had already spoken there in November 2020, in front of a sparse audience due to distancing measures related to the Covid pandemic. But at the time, he was still only crown prince. He addressed German lawmakers on Remembrance Day, in a highly symbolic gesture marking the post-war reconciliation between the two countries.
His speech Thursday in parliament was not unanimous. "I find it absurd to let a king speak in the Bundestag," Ates Gürpinar, vice-president of the small radical left opposition party Die Linke, criticised in the regional newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine.
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A majestic welcome in Berlin
On Wednesday, Charles and Camilla were greeted at the Brandenburg Gate by hundreds of Germans at the thought of seeing the royal couple. The famous Unter den Linden Avenue was adorned with the British flag, surrounded by German and European standards. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday hailed the British monarch's visit as an "important sign of the German-British relationship," saying the two countries were opening "a new chapter."
He recalled that this visit came six years after the date on which the United Kingdom began its process of leaving the European Union. On Friday, Charles III will travel to the port city of Hamburg. He will visit a renewable energy project on the last day of his trip.