WINDSOR, England: Britain’s King Charles welcomed German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday at the start of his three-day state visit to Britain, the latest show of closer relations between the European allies following Brexit.
The trip is the first state visit by a German President for 27 years and comes two years after Charles went to Germany for what was his first official overseas trip after he became king in September 2023.
The British monarch and his wife Queen Camilla greeted the president and his wife Elke Budenbender in Windsor before they took part in a carriage procession to Windsor Castle along with the king’s son Prince William and his wife Kate.
The trip will be similar to Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain in September, although it will be much more public due to the huge security operation that was put in place for the US president.
Later on Wednesday, Steinmeier will visit British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in his Downing Street office ahead of a state banquet at Windsor Castle.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Britain in July to sign a new treaty with Britain which is seeking to reset relations with the European Union after acrimony caused by Brexit. Steinmeier’s trip also follows a three-day state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron in July.
On Thursday, the German president and his wife will lay flowers at the tomb of Charles’ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, and will be shown the State Sleigh, which was designed by Queen Victoria’s German husband, Prince Albert.
During his visit, Steinmeier will also address British lawmakers in parliament, and meet German soccer players plying their trade for Premier League clubs in Britain.
On Friday, the couple will travel to Coventry in central England which was heavily bombed during World War Two, where the president will lay wreath in the ruins of city’s old cathedral alongside the Duke of Kent, who himself attended events in February to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the bombing of Dresden in Germany by the allies.
King Charles welcomes German president to UK for state visit
https://arab.news/9sywe
King Charles welcomes German president to UK for state visit
- President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s trip is the first state visit by a German leader for 27 years
- It comes two years after Charles went to Germany for what was his first official overseas trip after he became king
Greek coast guard search for 15 after migrant boat found adrift
- The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water
ATHENS: Greek coast guard were on Monday searching for 15 people who fell into the water from a migrant boat that was found drifting off the coast of Crete with 17 bodies on board.
The 17 fatalities, all of them men, were discovered on Saturday on the craft, which was taking on water and partially deflated, some 26 nautical miles (48 kilometers) southwest of the island.
Post-mortem examinations were being carried out to determine how they died but Greek public television channel ERT suggested they may have suffered from hypothermia or dehydration.
A Greek coast guard spokeswoman told AFP that two survivors reported that “15 people fell in the water” after the motor cut out on Thursday, then the vessel drifted for two days.
At the time, Crete and much of the rest of Greece was battered by heavy rain and storms.
The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water.
The vessel had 34 people on board and had left the Libyan port of Tobruk on Wednesday, the Greek port authorities said. Most of those who died came from Sudan and Egypt.
It was initially spotted by a Turkish-flagged cargo ship on Saturday, triggering a search that included ships and aircraft from the Greek coast guard and the European Union border agency Frontex.
Migrants have been trying to reach Crete from Libya for the last year, as a way of entering the European Union. But the Mediterranean crossing is perilous.
In Brussels, the EU’s 27 members on Monday backed a significant tightening of immigration policy, including the concept of returning failed asylum-seekers to “return hubs” outside the bloc.
The UN refugee agency said more than 16,770 asylum seekers in the EU have arrived on Crete since the start of the year — more than any other island in the Aegean Sea.
Greece’s conservative government has also toughened its migration policy, suspending asylum claims for three months, particularly those coming to Crete from Libya.
