Message from the Federal Chancellor
Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. Source: Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-00108838, Photo: Laurence Chaperon
To all participants in this year’s UNESCO World Youth Festival in Stuttgart and the Festival organizers I send heartfelt greetings!
Germany is delighted to have so many young people from all over the world. You are very welcome! This is a vibrant and globally-minded country. Your stay here will surely be a memorable experience, an opportunity to forge new ties and friendships with young people from many different countries. I am especially grateful to the host families, thanks to whom participants will get a real taste of what life in Germany is like. I hope there will also be ample time for stimulating discussions and joint activities.
Over the next few days you will be focusing particularly on “Protection of the Climate and Energy for our Future”, the theme of the Festival Youth Congress. Protecting the climate and the world ecosystem is of existential importance, as we all know. That is why it is so vital that in December the international community reaches consensus in Copehagen on a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol that puts us on the right track for the future. Here a great deal still remains to be done. I am sure you too will have lively discussions on this multifaceted issue.
So let me wish all participants in the UNESCO World Youth Festival interesting encounters and stimulating debates and of course plenty of fun as well. Enjoy your stay in Stuttgart!
Angela Merkel