More than 30 Ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps from the Asian and Pacific Region accredited in Germany participated in a luncheon meeting on invitation of the Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Berlin, H.E. Sarrath Kongahage held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Berlin. Guest of honour was the President of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Dr. Hans-Georg Maaßen.
Dr. Maaßen made a presentation on the “Threat Situation in Germany in connection with the Asian-Pacific Region”. In his presentation, Dr. Maaßen gave an overview about the structure of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s internal security service, and its efforts in the fight against terrorist and extremist movements based outside of Germany. Extremism and terrorism were a threat to both individual states and the international community and jeopardised the peaceful coexistence of different nations, ethnic group and cultures, he said. “In order to identify threats and counter them successfully we should join our efforts as conflicts in other countries and continents immediately affect the security situation in Germany”, he added.
Dr. Maaßen stated that it was good to hear that terrorist activities of LTTE had been ended in Sri Lanka and significant efforts were being made for reconciliation and development of the country. “Three and a half years after their military defeat in Sri Lanka, the LTTE factions’ structures abroad have not been able to consolidate towards a joint platform capable of acting,” he said. “Factions of the LTTE are still trying hard to gain respectively increase their influence on the Tamil community in Germany.”
Dr. Maaßen also stressed that only a small percentage of the German-based Tamils were involved in such activities. ”There is no problem with maintaining Tamil culture and organizing community events, but it is a problem, if some people want to use Germany as a place to rest and prepare for a new civil war,” he added.
In his conclusion, the Sri Lankan Ambassador H.E. Sarrath Kongahage thanked Dr. Maaßen for his presentation and the highly interesting information presented to the ambassadors present. He expressed his belief that the international cooperation in the fight against terror could be strengthened by such events.