A country of our size, with its focus on exports and thus reliance on foreign trade, must be aware that … military deployments are necessary in an emergency to protect our interests — for example when it comes to trade routes, for example when it comes to preventing regional instabilities that could negatively influence our trade, jobs and incomes.
German President Horst Köhler during a visit to troops in Afghanistan on May 22. His remarks and the following controversy let to his resignation on May 31.
