October 18, 2024
Biden awarded Germany’s highest honor for ‘dedication to transatlantic alliance’
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has conferred upon President Biden the highest class of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, a special class of Germany’s highest federal award which is reserved for heads of state.
In a speech at Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Steinmeier thanked Biden for his support for Germany, Europe and the transatlantic alliance over almost half a century, going all the way back to a visit by Biden to Germany 44 years ago.
“Mr. President,” he said. “We have known that you have been interested in Germany for half a century. Germany in turn is deeply grateful to you.”
He said that, under Biden’s leadership, the transatlantic alliance is “stronger than ever.”
The last US president to be awarded the Order of Merit was George H.W. Bush in 1994.
“For Germany, friendship with the US was, is and always will be existentially important, both for our security and our democracy, even when there are times of disagreement.”
“Just a handful of years ago the distance had grown so wide, that we almost lost each other,” Steinmeier added, in a veiled reference to strains in ties under former President Donald Trump.
Steinmeier said there have always been people who “have stood by transatlantic relations no matter what.”
” And chief among those people, Mr. President, is you” he added.
The German president also lauded US support in helping European countries resist Russia’s war in Ukraine, referring to Biden as a “beacon of democracy”
“We recognize your decades-long dedication to the transatlantic alliance, your outstanding leadership in Europe’s most dangerous moment,” said Steinmeier before presenting the award.
