Berlin (dpa) – German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has thanked the thousands of Germans who are active as volunteers. At the opening of this year’s Citizens Festival in the grounds of Bellevue Palace, he called on all those who do not yet contribute to the good of their communities to do their bit. Steinmeier suggested that next year’s “Ehrentag” on 23 May would be suitable opportunity.
The President and his wife Elke Büdenbender had invited around 4,000 volunteers to the event in the grounds of Bellevue Palace. The anniversary of the signing of Germany’s Basic Law had been chosen deliberately as the date for the “Ehrentag”, Steinmeier said. “The Basic Law is the foundation of our democracy. We will defend this democracy now more than ever, wherever it comes under attack,” he stressed. “We are showing that we are a country of people who care, who get stuck in, who make things better, who stand up for others, and who come up with ideas,” Steinmeier said.
The President opened the Citizens Festival along with his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Portugal was the international partner for this year’s Citizens Festival. Rebelo de Sousa also paid tribute to the many volunteers, expressing his particular thanks to the many volunteer firefighters who had fought the forest fires which had affected Europe this summer.
