Video & Photos: Barack Obama Berlin Speech 7-24-08

Posted on Jul 24, 2008 - 3:30pm by Shallow Nation in Politics

Barack Obama delivers a speech in Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008

Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama delivered a major speech in Berlin, Germany at the Victory Column (Siegessaeule) at the Grosser Stern in Tiergarten Park near the Brandenburg Gate on July 24, 2008. He addressed the historic U.S.-Germany partnership, and the need to strengthen ties between America and Europe to meet present and future challenges.

In front of a crowd that Berlin police estimated to be as large as 100,000, Obama acknowledged differences between America and Europe, adding that “no doubt there will be differences in the future.

“But the burdens of global citizenship bind us together,” he said, speaking under the central Berlin landmark of the Victory Column facing towards the Brandenburg Gate.

Barack Obama delivers a speech in Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008

Partnership among nations was not a choice but the only way to protect the security of Europe and the US, the Democratic Party presidential hopeful said.

Obama challenged a new generation of Americans and Europeans to tear down walls between estranged allies, races, and faiths in his soaring call for global unity.

“That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another,” he said in reference to the Berlin Wall that divided the city from 1961 to 1989.

Barack Obama delivers a speech in Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008

In a speech that risked being seen as presumptuous, considering Obama will not even face US voters for another three months, he warned of a world where partnership was not a choice but the only means of survival.

“No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone,” he said, signaling that, if elected president, he would end what many Europeans see as the unilateral foreign policy approach of President George W Bush.

Obama also made clear he would not take the US into isolation.

“That is why America cannot turn inward. That is why Europe cannot turn inward,” he said.

Barack Obama delivers a speech in Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008

A party atmosphere gripped the crowds around the Victory Column monument as people listened to the man many hoped would replace George W Bush as leader of the world’s most powerful nation.

A roar went up from the multi-ethnic crowd when Obama strolled confidently onto the stage to talk of the US-German partnership and the need to strengthen transatlantic relations to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Around 100,000 lined the boulevard linking the Victory Column to the Brandenburg Gate, where Obama had originally intended to speak but later dropped the plan after Merkel signaled her disapproval at the site being used for foreign election campaign speeches.

Barack Obama delivers a speech in Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008

Many of those present queued patiently for over an hour outside 20 airport-style security gates where they were required to empty their pockets and dispense with drinks containers.

Once inside they were able to refresh themselves with plastic mugs of German beer and snacks as a pop band livened up the audience on a warm mid-summer evening.

Barack Obama delivers a speech in Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008

No banners or placards were allowed on the strip guarded by around 1,000 police and other security officers as the Obama team sought to ensure that no unwelcome slogans were aired on US television.

But Democrats inside distributed US flags to their supporters and a green poster was held aloft by an Obama fan with the words “I Love Barack ‘n’ Roll.”

Source: Deutsche-Welle - Obama Talks of Building Bridges, Dismantling Barriers in Berlin

Barack Obama delivers a speech in Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008