Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
©APA/dpa
Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier begins a state visit to Austria on Tuesday. Steinmeier will be received in Vienna this morning by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen with military honors for an exchange of views. The reason for the visit is the opening of the new German embassy building in Vienna on Wednesday. A visit to the Brenner Base Tunnel construction site is planned for the two heads of state in Tyrol on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Steinmeier also has meetings with National Council President Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ), Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) and Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) on the agenda before a state banquet takes place in the evening. The content should be about the topics of Europe, transport and climate.
Opening of the new German embassy building on Wednesday
On Wednesday afternoon, Van der Bellen and Steinmeier will open the newly designed German embassy at Metternichgasse 3 in Vienna-Landstrasse. In addition, visits to Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles and the Max Reinhardt Seminar are planned. On Thursday we will visit the construction site of the Brenner Base Tunnel together with the Tyrolean Governor Anton Mattle (ÖVP). This is followed by a visit to Innsbruck.
A state visit is the highest form of diplomatic appreciation between two states, which is reserved exclusively for the respective heads of state. The last state visit by a German Federal President took place in 1997, making it 28 years ago. At the time, Roman Herzog stayed in Austria for three days at the invitation of Thomas Klestil. The main topic at that time was the upcoming EU expansion to the east. Both former heads of state have now died.
