(MENAFN- Alghad Newspaper)
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BERLIN — His Majesty King Abdullah II on Friday held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on ways to bolster bilateral ties and the latest regional and international developments. In statements to the press ahead of the meeting, His Majesty King Abdullah reiterated the depth of ties with Germany and Jordan's keenness to build on these ties in various domains. Following is the full text of the King's statement: "Madam Chancellor, thank you very much. I am delighted to be back here in Berlin and to be in your company again. And I want to take this opportunity to thank you and your government and the German people for all the support that you have given our country and our people, historically, but most recently with the Compact and supporting our economy with the tremendous burdens that we have had for refugees. We started this year in London at the London Conference, and again Germany came with a very strong support package to a country that is in desperate need of support for not only our young people but also for the refugees. Twenty per cent of our population is, as you know Madam Chancellor, are in our country now of Syrian refugees, and this is a burden that we are undertaking and has been alleviated because of the role that you have done as a country to help us move the process forward. And I want to commend not only your country, but the role that you have played, the leadership that you have shown – not only the leadership I believe that you have shown for Europe but for the international community in being able to raise the moral bar very high on the challenges of refugees, but the humanitarian aspect of this worldwide. If it hadn";t been for the role of Germany and yourself, I think that our region, I think Africa and the world would be in a lot worse position. So I am here to thank not only you and the German people for what you have done for Jordan, but what you are doing for our region. I know that you are going off to Africa in the near future, and the challenges that we have is not just our country, it is the holistic approach that we have been saying for a while: it is not just Syria and Iraq, it is North Africa, it is East and West Africa. And here I just want to commend the Chancellor";s role because there are very few leaders in the world that look at the challenges that are facing this generation of people. That is a global problem and a global challenge. And I don";t think there are enough voices in the world that commend the role of the Chancellor in being able to deal with this from this problem. And I look forward to continue to being able to work alongside you, as a breath of fresh air that has really been able to bring some light to the very challenges that we are facing not only in my region but further afield. So whatever we can do in Jordan in a small way to thank you and thank Germany";s support, we will always be by your side. We are very grateful for you continuing to shine a light to all of us and I am very, very grateful on behalf of myself, my delegation and the Jordanian people for what you have done for our country and continue to do. And I am delighted to be back here in Germany. Madam Chancellor, thank you very much for all that you are doing". Following is the statement of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "It is my pleasure to welcome King Abdullah of Jordan, who is paying us a visit once again. The occasion is also related to the Peace of Westphalia Prize that he will be receiving tomorrow, for which I would like to offer him my sincere congratulations. Queen Rania yesterday spoke at the Day of the German Industry here. And I am pleased that today, we can continue with our political discussions, and essentially, the Jordan Compact and the question about how can Jordan in its difficult situation and the situation surrounding the taking in of many refugees, advance economically and how can we as countries in Europe or other countries in the world help. We had the London Conference and now it is about implementing the outcomes of the conference. We will be discussing in detail about what has become better; there are more children receiving school education; there are more people that are able to work. However, considering the high number of 700 thousand Syrian refugees and a difficult situation domestically, this is only a first step. Therefore, we will be considering which further steps we can take. The situation in the region will of course play a role, particularly the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Syria and the situation in Iraq. Jordan neighbours both these countries, and this shows the difficult situation the country is facing. Nevertheless, we know with how much energy the King is fighting to ameliorate the economic situation so that the young people have hope, and we want to contribute to that. And so, Your Majesty, I am very happy you are here now". Further, the two leaders discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields. In this regard, King Abdullah praised the support provided by Germany to help carry out development projects in the Kingdom, mainly after the German government recently approved new aid to the Kingdom worth 272.7 million euro. On terrorism, the King underlined the importance of stepping up international efforts to fight terrorism and terrorist organizations. On Syria, the two King Abdullah and Merkel reiterated the need to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis and help neighbouring countries, including Jordan to deal with the ramifications of the crisis. The two leaders also reiterated the need to reach political solutions to the various crises in the Middle East, mainly in Iraq, Libya and Yemen. Talks were attended by the Royal Court Chief, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs, the Jordanian envoy to Germany and senior German officials. (Petra)
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