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German President: 'There Can be no Democracy Without America'

Natalie Liu

   WASHINGTON - Frank-Walter Steinmeier, federal president of Germany, was
   in Boston at the end of October to conclude a yearlong diplomatic
   initiative Germany launched to strengthen ties with the United States.

   In remarks delivered at the re-opening of Goethe-Institut Boston on
   October 31, Steinmeier stressed the longstanding bond between the two
   countries and urged the two sides to focus less on "what separates us"
   and more on "what unites us."

   The Goethe-Institut, named after Germany's most famous poet (and
   one-time diplomat) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is a German
   government-supported cultural institution active worldwide. It has
   offices and a presence in 10 cities in the United States.

   "I have come here as Federal President to raise our sights away from
   the day-to-day emphasis on tweets and tirades and beyond the
   indignation that is often both predictable and ineffective," Steinmeier
   said, in what seemed to be references to U.S. President Donald Trump's
   usage of Twitter to communicate his thoughts and feelings.

   "I want to expand our horizons so that we can look back on our shared
   history and at things that will hopefully connect us in the future,
   things for which we need one another," Steinmeier continued.

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