The German Ambassador to Poland, His Excellency Rüdiger Freiherr von Fritsch, assisted by the Defence Attaché Colonel Klaus-Peter Kiser, paid a visit to Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast (HQ MNC NE) on 8 February 2012.
The official Guard of Honour marked the visit of the honourable guest to Baltic Barracks. The Corps Commander Lieutenant General Rainer Korff, Chiefs of Staff Divisions, Senior National Officers as well as the Honorary Consul of Germany accredited in Szczecin, Mr Bartłomiej Sochański, welcomed His Excellency Rüdiger Freiherr von Fritsch. Then, the Ambassador took the opportunity to talk more to Lieutenant General Rainer Korff.
The next point in the itinerary was a presentation about the Corps’ role, missions and organization given to the Ambassador in order to present most current developments. “I am deeply impressed about what I have learned today,” the Ambassador said afterwards. “Multinational Corps Northeast serves specific purposes in the NATO framework; it is preparing to be used and it has been very successfully deployed to Afghanistan,” His Excellency Rüdiger Freiherr von Fritsch explained and mentioned also another aspect: “The Corps is unique and it is important because this is about integrating and achieving a closer cooperation, better understanding and more unified culture of twelve different member nations of NATO”. The Ambassador drew attention to the fact that nine out of twelve member states of the Corps used to be part of the former Warsaw Pact. However, day-to-day cooperation in the Corps allows to create “an integrated culture and a better understanding of NATO policy”.
His Excellency Rüdiger Freiherr von Fritsch also demonstrated his understanding of Polish-German relations influenced by difficult history. He referred to Multinational Corps Northeast as an excellent example of progress achieved in bilateral relations and divisions in Europe being overcome. From his point of view, German contribution to Multinational Corps Northeast, but also to NATO in general, is of great value to Germany as it enables to learn about partner states, about their interests, professional qualifications and culture. „Moim zdaniem warto uczyć się języka polskiego (it is worth learning the Polish language),” said the Ambassador in Polish demonstrating his particular interest in Poland, one of the Corps’ Framework Nations. “Try, to the extent it is possible, to take an interest in Poland, try to learn the country, try to understand it,” he also encouraged German personnel of the Multinational Corps Northeast also thanked them for their excellent service.
