WEBVTT

00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.360
<i>For three days,</i>
<i>the German Parliament</i>

00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:05.240
<i>became a national forum once again.</i>

00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:08.720
<i>During the first reading</i>
<i>of the German Eastern treaties,</i>

00:00:09.040 --> 00:00:10.800
<i>the federal government and opposition</i>

00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:13.320
<i>stated their opposing viewpoints.</i>

00:00:14.120 --> 00:00:18.240
Renunciation of force and
the principles of peaceful coexistence

00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:24.440
have become a topic in
European and international politics.

00:00:25.360 --> 00:00:28.480
Ladies and Gentlemen,
do not misunderstand me.

00:00:29.240 --> 00:00:31.480
Today we can still become

00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:35.200
one of the pacesetters
of a new kind of politics.

00:00:35.360 --> 00:00:37.560
Tomorrow we will, at most,

00:00:37.720 --> 00:00:40.560
count as one of the latecomers.

00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:46.160
We, Ladies and Gentlemen,

00:00:46.680 --> 00:00:48.480
demand enduring peace,

00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:50.320
effective détente,

00:00:50.480 --> 00:00:52.480
and freedom for all people.

00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.560
We want the free Europe to unite,

00:00:56.400 --> 00:00:59.640
and to collaborate
with the other European states.

00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:03.440
The right to self-determination
and freedom of movement

00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:07.080
are aspects we believe

00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:10.200
will lead to
a permanent peace framework

00:01:10.360 --> 00:01:12.600
that will be supported by the nations,

00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:16.600
because it is of tangible benefit
to the people.

00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:20.040
That is why our response
to these treaties is:

00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:22.560
This is not the answer.

00:01:25.720 --> 00:01:27.920
The treaties have already

00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:31.200
passed their first test successfully.

00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:37.120
Without them, there would
be no Berlin Agreement.

00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:40.560
They...

00:01:40.880 --> 00:01:43.280
will however also make clear

00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:46.360
that we have the possibility

00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:49.200
as well as the responsibility

00:01:49.360 --> 00:01:51.720
to take
the lessons of history to heart,

00:01:51.880 --> 00:01:54.720
departing from the notion

00:01:54.880 --> 00:01:59.240
of a liberal German state.

00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:01.800
If we are able to do this,

00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:07.600
my generation will have succeeded
in achieving the best it can

00:02:08.160 --> 00:02:10.320
in view of its many casualties

00:02:10.480 --> 00:02:12.120
and sacrifices

00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:14.600
in the last war:

00:02:14.760 --> 00:02:17.160
Peace, for our own
generation's benefit,

00:02:17.320 --> 00:02:19.000
as well as our children's.

00:02:19.320 --> 00:02:22.120
Copyright © 2012 TITELBILD, Berlin
Subtitles: L. Corper et al.