“Freedom also means allowing other voices to be heard”

Official seat on the Spreebogen, 20 October 2026. “At a time when reliable partners are more important than ever, we are committed to shared values: freedom and human rights, the rule of law and the self-determination of the world’s countries,” said Federal President Steinmeier at the State Banquet in honour of the President of Mongolia.

Translation of advance text.

I am delighted that you are here with us this evening. Just over two and a half years ago, you welcomed my wife and me to Ulan Bator with a warmth which we have not forgotten. We very much hope that we can extend something of that same hospitality during your visit. Once again, welcome to Berlin!

This afternoon, we already had the opportunity to see how close the relations between our countries are. For a quarter of a century, Mongolian and German researchers have been working side by side to excavate the ruins of Karakorum. The impressive Chinggis Khan exhibition, which we opened here in Berlin today, highlights the importance of the Pax Mongolica for both cultural and technical exchange between Asia and Europe. This exhibition is the result of intensive cultural cooperation.

And we are experiencing another result of these close ties live here this evening. What a treat! It is no secret that I am a passionate fan of jazz. So I am particularly happy that our gathering is being enriched this evening by an artist whose music links our two countries: Enji.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, what do you think happens when Urtiin duu, the “long song” of Mongolia, meets jazz? When a centuries-old vocal art that embodies the vastness of your country meets the love of improvisation? The result is something the world has never quite heard before: neither purely Mongolian nor purely Western, but rather something new, something unique. What a stroke of luck that Enji stumbled upon the Music Lab in the Goethe-Institut in Ulan Bator one day! There she discovered jazz and combined it with the traditional sounds of her childhood. In Enji’s music, two musical worlds which at first appear so utterly different blend almost seamlessly to become something new. Today Enji’s music touches the hearts of people far beyond Mongolia and Germany, even those who do not understand a word of Mongolian.

Jazz means listening to each other, leaving space for others, and daring to embark on something whose end is not always clear. These are qualities required in a democracy, too. For freedom does not simply mean making one’s own voice heard. It also means allowing other voices to be heard.

The people of your country, Mongolia, won their freedom peacefully in 1990, just a few months after the people in the former GDR. With its freedom, Mr President, your country found its own voice once again. Mongolia embarked upon its own democratic course back then, taking its political future into its own hands. Germany supported Mongolia along this path with the building of democratic institutions, the establishment of the rule of law, capacity-building in the administration, and exchange between our societies.

Your country is following its path with self-confidence and aplomb. Over six thousand kilometres lie between us, yet we enjoy a close partnership. At a time when reliable partners are more important than ever, we are committed to shared values: freedom and human rights, the rule of law and the self-determination of the world’s countries. We work closely together for these values in a spirit of trust, in the United Nations and other international forums. This is reflected in our strategic partnership, which we agreed during my state visit to your country in February 2024.

And we want this partnership to expand further: in the field of science and culture – we saw the fruits of this valuable exchange today when we opened the Chinggis Khan exhibition – as well as in our joint engagement for the international order and multilateral institutions, in the field of technology and business, where we want to cooperate even more closely, and also in the fight against climate change – all fields in which we want to shape the future as partners. Mr President, your tree-planting initiative, which aims to plant one billion trees by 2030, bears witness to this commitment to the future. It looks far beyond the here and now. It combines nature conservation with responsibility for future generations. Whoever plans like this, plans for the future.

Mr President, I do not know whether you like jazz as much as I do. But a little bird told me that you play the guitar in a rock band you set up. I am most impressed. However, I was even more impressed to hear that you bench pressed one hundred kilos for twenty repetitions, barely pausing to remove your suit jacket before getting started. I won’t try to copy you. Rather than the barbell, I would prefer to raise my glass – in a toast to your good health, to the people of Mongolia and Germany, and to all the new ties emerging between us. German-Mongolyn Naramdlyn Tuluu!

Source: https://www.bundespraesident.de