Berlin, 13 October 2021: The deployment of the Federal Armed Forces in Afghanistan was finally concluded with the end of the military evacuation operation. The Federal Government, Bundestag and Federal President honoured the soldiers with a number of events.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble, Federal Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and the Inspector General of the Federal Armed Forces, Eberhard Zorn, met further guests at the Federal Ministry of Defence.
In the past 20 years, there were around 160,000 deployments at the Hindu Kush, in which 59 soldiers lost their lives.
To honour these lives, Steinmeier, Kramp-Karrenbauer and Schäuble laid wreaths at the memorial of the Federal Armed Forces.
“They paid the highest price that a soldier can pay on behalf of his country,” said Federal President Steinmeier. “We are greatly in their debt.”
This was followed by the central final roll call at the parade grounds, in which Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel also participated.
Federal President Steinmeier and Federal Defence Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer walk along the length of the guard of honour at the start of the event.
The Federal Defence Minister’s speech followed. She thanked the men and women once again: “No deployment has made its mark on the Federal Armed Forces as much as this deployment in Afghanistan. None before was so long, so intensive, so dangerous.”
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier recalled that the Federal Armed Forces had carried out the mission assigned to them by the German Bundestag. “And one thing is beyond any doubt: the Federal Armed Forces have fulfilled their mission.” The Federal Armed Forces could be relied upon, Steinmeier said.
The Federal Chancellor converses with Afghanistan veteran Sven Hornig at a reception at the German Bundestag. He only just survived a Taliban attack in 2010 in which three of his comrades were killed, while five others were injured.
In the evening, the heads of the constitutional bodies gathered in front of the German Bundestag.
The acknowledgement reached its climax with a grand tattoo at the Platz der Republik.
Sergeant Major Jens Burdinski and Surgeon General Katharina Siegl stand in for the almost 93,000 members of the Federal Armed Forces who served in Afghanistan. Both were deployed together.
The grand tattoo is the most formal military ceremony of the Federal Armed Forces – an honour for the soldiers who were deployed in Afghanistan for our country.