Rede auf der 47. Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz

Excellencies, dear Friends,

Sie haben sicher Verständnis, dass ich über unseren amerikanischen Freund Richard Holbrooke auf Englisch spreche. He knew and loved Germany – but hardly knew any German. Except for: „Ja, das ist riktik!“.

Richard Holbrooke remains for me the sometimes nerve-wracking, often brilliant, never punctual, always warm-hearted big brother – but also a sublime déjà-vu experience in the best sense of the word:

What was the reason in 1994 to create the five-member Contact Group on Bosnia – US, Russia, France, UK, I was the German member?

It was the realisation that neither the Europeans, nor the Russians, nor the Americans alone could win the peace. Only together, only with a common position, we were strong enough to turn things around.

And we knew: Ultimately we needed a political solution accepted by all sides.

As you know – despite so many failures before – this approach eventually did work. It was Richard Holbrooke who one year later in Dayton, under the aegis of this very Contact Group, brought peace to Bosnia. A peace surely not perfect. But the war in Bosnia did end.

Fifteen years later the déjà-vu. This time Afghanistan. Much more complicated. Much more at stake. Much more desperate.

And Richard knew very well: The biggest mistake would be to simply replicate Bosnia, to simply analyse by analogy.

But the fundamentals were similar: Ultimately you need a political solution.

And as the challenges are even more complicated now in Afghanistan than they were in Bosnia, you need an even broader international consensus.

So he created another International Contact Group. On Afghanistan. Already it has nearly fifty members, ten times more than the original one on Bosnia.

By the way, the founding session took place two years ago at this very building, the Bayrischer Hof.

This is his legacy to us. The ultimate expression of Richard’s style of diplomacy: create alliances, take partners seriously and rally them around a common goal – sometimes by charming them, sometimes by his very special ways of making it far more painful to say “no” than “yes”.

Excellencies, friends,

Politically we have achieved a lot over the last year in the international community. Together with the Afghans. We have now a realistic aim: Sufficient stability and fundamental human rights. And we have a realistic timetable: Starting the transition to the Afghans in 2011, finishing it by the end of 2014.

Indeed, we need to get things going. The people in Afghanistan want to see progress. And the international attention span is not endless. Look at the challenges for Egypt we discussed yesterday!

Indeed, we need to get things going. The people in Afghanistan want to see progress. And the international attention span is not endless: Look at the challenges from Egypt we discussed yesterday!

But Richard was also always the one to keep reminding everybody: We have taken on a responsibility in Afghanistan. We can not cut and run.

Check against delivery!