The CDU politician wants to give up her office after 16 years after the federal election at the end of September. The focus of this farewell meeting will probably be the current situation in Afghanistan. Furthermore, Kurz is awarded the “Ludwig Erhard commemorative gold medal” by the CDU Economic Council as part of the CDU Economic Day.
In addition to bilateral relations, the talks with Merkel focus primarily on the situation in Afghanistan and the expected movements of refugees. After the radical Islamic Taliban’s recent takeover of power in mid-August, the German Bundeswehr helped the Austrian authorities evacuate Austrian citizens and persons with a right of residence in Austria from Kabul. The German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) will also meet briefly in the afternoon, where this topic will also be discussed in particular. As part of the member states’ cooperation within the EU, after the withdrawal of foreign troops, they continue to work together in evacuations by land, said a spokesman for the Chancellor at the request of the APA. The last US soldier left the country in the Hindu Kush on Tuesday morning.
Germany has repeatedly announced its intention to bring so-called local staff – i.e. Afghans who had supported the foreign powers – to safety even after the troops have withdrawn from Afghanistan. Another topic is the endeavor to keep the flow of refugees in the region as far as possible. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (both ÖVP) took part in an online conference on Monday with Afghanistan’s neighbors Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
As a farewell present at the end of her political career as Chancellor, Kurz brings the music-loving Merkel a permanent invitation to the Salzburg Festival for life, a spokesman told the APA. She will also receive a CD box that was released for the 100th anniversary of the 2020 festival.
Contact with the German economy is also an important topic of the visit to Berlin – Chamber of Commerce President Harald Mahrer is also on board. There is a meeting with Carsten Spohr, head of the German airline and AUA parent Lufthansa, as well as an encounter with other business representatives.
With the award “commemorative coin Ludwig Erhard in gold” the CDU Economic Council, an interest group of the entrepreneurial economy, honors people who have made a contribution to the social market economy. The award is named after Ludwig Erhard (1897-1977), West German Minister for Economic Affairs, Chancellor and CDU politician, who is known as the “father of the German economic miracle” and the social market economy. In 2005, the then Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel (ÖVP) received the commemorative coin, which is awarded to high-ranking politicians and business representatives.
The Chancellor was last in Berlin in June. Back then, at the invitation of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), he traveled to the German capital to speak at the Industry Day. In addition, the Federal Chancellor visited the Charité clinic and met the well-known virologist Christian Drosten there. He also spoke to Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU). At the time, he did not meet Merkel personally in the German capital, but before he left he held a video conference with her on the topics of the upcoming EU summit.
