German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Monday during his Lebanon visit that Germany will continue to stand by Lebanon even after the end of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mission.

Britain’s King Charles welcomed German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday at the start of his three-day state visit, the first by a German president in 27 years. The visit highlights growing ties between the two nations following Brexit.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will on Friday become the first German head of state to visit Guernica, the Basque town devastated by a 1937 Nazi air raid during Spain’s civil war. He will be joined by Spain’s King Felipe VI and Basque regional president Imanol Pradales to lay a wreath at a cemetery housing a mausoleum for hundreds of victims.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has described Germany as an important partner in a letter of congratulations to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the occasion of German Unity Day on October 3.

By Tural Heybatov

A controversy that erupted on the eve of the German President’s visit to Azerbaijan somewhat clouded the diplomatic atmosphere.

The peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan is of great importance, said President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier during a joint press conference with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

On April 2, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, and his wife Elke Büdenbender visited the Alley of Martyrs in Baku.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is set to make his first official visits to Azerbaijan and Armenia, according to a statement from the president’s press service, News.Az reports.