Germany’s ambassador to speak on trans-Atlantic relations

Wolfgang Ischinger, ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States, will visit UW–Madison Wednesday, Oct. 16, and speak on “Trans-Atlantic Relations: Challenges and Opportunities” 4 p.m. in the Fluno Center auditorium, 601 University Ave.

UW–Madison’s International Institute and the European Studies Alliance, a consortium of four nationally recognized programs, are sponsoring Ischinger’s visit. The talk is free and open to the public.

Ischinger’s visit comes at an especially important time in German-American relations. Earlier this month, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens narrowly held on to power in fiercely fought parliamentary elections where American foreign policy took center stage. During the race, Schröder staunchly opposed U.S. military action against Iraq, even if there were a United Nations mandate, and his justice minister reportedly compared the tactics of President Bush to those of Hitler, suggesting Bush was using talk of war to divert American voters’ attention from domestic issues before national elections here. Soon after the elections, Schröder indicated the minister would no longer have a cabinet post.

Some political observers have suggested Schröder’s position has seriously damaged his country’s relationship with the U.S. Others have noted Germany’s ongoing commitment to the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism and the fact that German soldiers have served in the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.

“For the first time in a century, Germans can say with confidence that their troops are fighting on the right side,” Ischinger has said. He is expected to address recent events in his speech.

Ischinger was appointed his country’s ambassador to the U.S. in 2001. Before assuming his duties in Washington, D.C., he served as a member of the high-level German-Russian Strategy Group created by Schröder and Russian President Vladimir Putin to explore ways to enhance the German-Russian relationship, especially with respect to investment and business opportunities. From October 1998 to June 2001, Ischinger also served as state secretary, the highest civil-service post in the German Foreign Office. Working as a deputy to the foreign minister, his responsibilities included relations with Russia; security, defense and arms-control questions; crisis management in the Balkans; European Union security and defense policy; transatlantic relations; human rights; and other international organization issues.

Ischinger’s other posts have included director general for political affairs, where he participated in a number of international negotiating processes; director of the policy planning staff of the German Foreign Office in Bonn; minister counselor and head of the political section of the German Embassy in Paris; service in the cabinet of the foreign minister in Bonn; private secretary to the foreign minister; and director of Cabinet and Parliamentary Affairs. Before joining Germany’s Foreign Service in 1975, Ischinger served on the staff of the cabinet of the Secretary General of the United Nations in New York.

Ischinger studied law at the universities of Bonn, Germany and Geneva, Switzerland, receiving his law degree in 1972. He earned a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Ischinger was an American Field Service foreign exchange student in Watseka, Illinois, where he graduated from the local high school in June 1964.

For more information on Ischinger, visit the German Embassy’s Web page at.