Ambassador remembers when the Wall came down
Dr. Wolfgang Moser, German Ambassador in Cambodia, pictured above. Photograph: Phnom Penh Post
- Wednesday, 03 October 2012
- Anne Renzenbrink
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- Dr Wolfgang Moser, German Ambassador in Cambodia, can look back on 35 years in the foreign service.
On
the day of the German reunification he was chargé d’affaires in the
Ivory Coast, “the first time where I had without any preparation to
celebrate a national day,” he remembers.
“I still have a very
good memory of this immense feeling of joy and of happ iness that
everybody had, not only the Germans on that day, but also our local
friends, the Ivoirians, the Africans who really felt with us what it
meant to be a reunited country, a reunited nation, a reunited people.”
Moser
says that for the first 10 or 12 years of his diplomatic life, whenever
he was abroad and people asked him which country he came from, he said
Germany. And then people used to ask East or West Germany.
“So finally in 1990, all this ended and then we could proudly just say, Germany, and I’m very happy about that,” he says.
Moser came to Cambodia in July 2010 after serving as Ambassador in Madagascar for four years and several other postings abroad.
“Diplomatic life is a very colourful and varied life,” Moser says.
He studied in Singapore in the 1970s and, as a sinologist, he says his roots are in Asia.
“So
I feel like coming home when I come back to Asia and I’m very happy
that I’m here in Cambodia as I think this country is very authentic
Asia,” Moser says.
“This is my last posting and the more I am enjoying being here in Cambodia. Very nice people and very interesting country.”
In
accordance with the deadline for all civil servants in Germany, Moser
will be retired on the 30th of June in 2013 at the age of 65.
According
to Moser, Germany and Cambodia had diplomatic relations in the 1960s
that were stopped when Cambodia recognized the German Democratic
Republic (GDR) in 1969. After 1979, it was again the GDR that together
with other socialist countries established diplomatic relations.
“But
we were in the happy situation that after reunification we were still
having this wonderful building, this compound and the residence,” Moser
says.
Thus in 1992, even before the Kingdom of Cambodia was re-established, Germany opened up a diplomatic mission.
“So as a matter of fact we are here for 20 years now,” Moser says.
Germany
has been active in bilateral cooperation for 20 years now. Because they
had to wait until the re-establishment of the Kingdom, Germany only has
diplomatic relations for 19 years.
“So it’s a long history and I
think during all this time we were very much engaged especially in the
cooperation because there was lot to be built up again,” Moser says. -
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