Source: The Week In Germany Dr. Klaus Scharioth, former State Secretary of the Foreign Office, is the new German Ambassador in Washington. He presented his credentials to President George W. Bush at the White House on Monday, March 13.
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| Scharioth, right, with President Bush. White House photo |
“We Germans feel a special bond with the United States, particularly through the friendship between our two nations but also through our partnership in the North Atlantic Alliance; we share common values and interests,” Ambassador Scharioth said in his written address to President Bush.
Germany and America know that freedom and justice must be earned and defended anew each day, Ambassador Scharioth said. He thanked the United States for its major contribution to German unification and the spread of peace and democracy in Europe.
“Today, the United States and the Europeans are together engaged in promoting human rights, the rule of law, and democracy also in other parts of the world. The hunger for freedom and justice is universal — but the roads leading there and the shape of freedom and right can differ greatly.
“For the Federal Republic of Germany, European integration and transatlantic partnership are the pillars of its foreign policy and thus complementary goals. ‘More Europe’ is key to a strong partnership between Europe and America that is equal to the future tasks; it is key to a vital transatlantic alliance.”
Germany and America have worked together in the Balkans, in Afghanistan, supporting democracy in Ukraine, and breaking up the global network of terrorism and fighting the causes of militant fanaticism, Scharioth said.
Both nations face similar challenges domestically and globally. “Together, we face new global challenges, be it in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, fighting diseases, or protecting the climate.
The scourge of organized crime and the modern plague of human-trafficking also are problems that no one can solve alone. Germany will do its part to help solve these problems.”
A career diplomat, Scharioth is no stranger to the United States. As a 20-year-old, after fulfilling his German military service, he studied for a year at the College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho, before studying law in Bonn and Freiburg, Germany, and in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1968 to 1973.
Scharioth then returned to the United States for graduate and Ph.D. studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, as well as at Harvard Law School and Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Scharioth entered the German Foreign Service in 1976, going on to significant posts at Foreign Office headquarters, including the State Secretary’s office, Policy Planning Staff, International Law Division, head of the Foreign Minister’s office, head of the Political Directorate-General and Political Director.
Alternating with his work at headquarters in Germany were foreign assignments in Ecuador and at the UN in New York, where he also served as vice-chairman of the United Nations Legal and Charter Committees.
At NATO in Brussels, Scharioth was the director of the private office of NATO Secretary-General Solana, as well as his two predecessors Woerner and Claes, from 1993 to 1996.
In 2002, Scharioth was appointed State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office, serving as one of the two highest-ranking civil servants and overseeing the divisions responsible for political matters, Europe, security policy, the United Nations and global issues.
“I look forward with joy and optimism to the task of fostering relations between our two nations,” said Scharioth, who now succeeds Wolfgang Ischinger as German Ambassador in Washington.
