(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) KUWAIT, Dec 10 (KUNA) -- Germany praised Kuwait's diplomacy for hosting the recently GCC summit, as it also strongly supports Kuwait mediation efforts in the region.
"Just the fact that a meeting on this level would take place, it will allow a united voice back again. It's another success for Kuwaiti mediation here in the region, so we strongly support such mediation," German Ambassador to Kuwait, Karlfried Bergner said in an interview with KUNA.
"First I would like to congratulate His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the Kuwaiti diplomacy for hosting the GCC summit. There were many people involved in making this summit happen.
"We think just the fact that a meeting on this level will take place is already big progress in the Gulf affairs, this is another success for the Kuwaiti mediation, it will allow the Gulf to find its united voice back again, so we strongly support this mediation," Bergner underlined.
When asked about Germany's role in the region and in the Gulf crisis, Bergner said, "as you know, Germany is following up developments in the region very closely, our foreign minister was twice here in the region last April, and at the start of last July, and he is thoroughly following this issue, and he has strong interests in it.
"But as you know, like Kuwait, we have a caretaking government, Germany went through an election last September, but the minister remains active and he follows developments very closely, and he appreciates all of His Highness the Amir efforts in this mediation.
"On one hand it was a serious situation, it affected not only the countries involved, but also for example Germany, and other countries, because it basically was hurting business and political interests because it's a unified Gulf Cooperation Council. On the other hand, we know that the GCC have gone through rough patches in the past, so we are confident it will overcome these problems," Bergner noted.
On bilateral relations, the ambassador noted that on a political level both countries are on one page. "We will continue to do so; Germany will have a very prominent role in the conference on Iraq that will take place in February here. We are very much involved in the reconstruction in Iraq, so we are very much involved politically with Kuwait, I also commend the (Kuwaiti) government in continuing its long-term infrastructure projects with Germany. I think this will be good for the Kuwaiti economy, it will open perspectives and opportunities for German companies." Thirdly, "I still hope we would improve cultural cooperation. We hope that the project for the University of Munich in Kuwait will actually take hold at the beginning of next year." On the ongoing process of forming a government in Germany, Bergner said, "frankly speaking, the voters now have been split now more than ever. We have now six or seven parties in parliament. We used to have three to four, where it's more difficult to form a government." However, "it's early now to speculate, we hope to see a coalition government, but this is difficult, I'm quite confident now that we will make it through." In response to US President Donald Trump's decesion to relocate the embassy to Jerusalem, Bergner said, "we clearly stick to the agreed way. Our embassy will remain in Tel Aviv, I think we have no plans to follow that, and I think it will test the patience of the Palestinian authority very much, if such a move would happen." On Iran and the nuclear deal, the ambassador said, "We don't think that Iran has not complied with the nuclear deal, so we don't see any need to reconsider the nuclear deal, and we are strongly in favor of keeping it up, because it's the best solution." On Yemen, Bergner noted that the situation there is tense and unstable, but stressed importance on the humanitarian aspect there, due to famine in many areas. (end) sss.mb
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