UK Speaker and German ambassador pledge closer parliamentary ties
2 November 2022
The threat to energy supplies across Europe caused by Russia’s bombing of power stations in Ukraine, was a key part of discussions between the Speaker of the House of Commons and Germany’s ambassador to the UK.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle and His Excellency Miguel Berger talked about the crisis in Ukraine during their debut meeting in Speaker’s House.
Mr Berger, who was posted to London five months ago, said it was important countries across Europe helped each other with energy supplies.
He said he hoped that unity might prompt Russia to ‘re-evaluate’ its illegal war on Ukraine.
He made the comments during a meeting initiated by Sir Lindsay, as part of his Speaker-led diplomacy to establish enduring ties between countries and parliamentarians.
The two men also discussed how the UK Parliament and the German Bundestag could work together to combat terrorism, cyber infiltration and to improve security.
Links between the two parliaments already exist, not least through their choirs, which sang together in 2014 and 2018 to mark the centenary of the start – and the end – of the First World War.