British Queen says must guard against division in Europe
Reuters, Berlin :
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth urged Europe on Wednesday to guard against division in the continent, at a state banquet in Berlin where Germany’s president declared: “the European Union needs Great Britain”.
On the first full day of her visit to Germany, the queen said she and German President Joachim Gauck had seen “the worst but also the best” of Europe in their lifetimes, adding: “we must work hard to maintain the benefits of the post-war world.”
The 89-year-old queen, now in her 63rd year on the throne, lived in Britain during World War Two.
In her fifth visit to Germany, where she will remain until Friday, she said: “We know that division in Europe is dangerous and that we must guard against it in the west, as well as in the east of our continent. That remains a common endeavor,” she said, before proposing a toast to Gauck and the people of Germany.
The queen made her speech as the Ukraine crisis stokes tensions with Russia to Europe’s east, Greece’s debt woes test tempers in the core of the continent and as Britain on its western flank seeks to renegotiate its position in the EU.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth urged Europe on Wednesday to guard against division in the continent, at a state banquet in Berlin where Germany’s president declared: “the European Union needs Great Britain”.
On the first full day of her visit to Germany, the queen said she and German President Joachim Gauck had seen “the worst but also the best” of Europe in their lifetimes, adding: “we must work hard to maintain the benefits of the post-war world.”
The 89-year-old queen, now in her 63rd year on the throne, lived in Britain during World War Two.
In her fifth visit to Germany, where she will remain until Friday, she said: “We know that division in Europe is dangerous and that we must guard against it in the west, as well as in the east of our continent. That remains a common endeavor,” she said, before proposing a toast to Gauck and the people of Germany.
The queen made her speech as the Ukraine crisis stokes tensions with Russia to Europe’s east, Greece’s debt woes test tempers in the core of the continent and as Britain on its western flank seeks to renegotiate its position in the EU.
