This is a day on which we all have reason to rejoice. The George C. Marshall Center is now 10 years old and an impressive success story.

The fall of the Iron Curtain, the will of the peoples in eastern Europe to attain liberty, a Europe on the road towards a better, albeit still uncertain future this is the situation that prevailed a decade ago and provided the historical background for the establishment of this transatlantic institute.

It came about due to the close and trustful relations that existed between the United States of America and Germany.

It came about due to the unique friendship between two nations that deduced from their shared history that they had a shared responsibility for building a democratic and free world.

If we cast our minds back, we can recall the speech George Marshall delivered on 5 June 1947 and the great signal it sent out of American solidarity with Europe as a whole but notably with the defeated Germany.

I was born in 1943 and like millions of Germans experienced American help and American generosity in the post-war years. They also left a lasting impression on my view of the world. When we Germans say that we will never forget this, we are not uttering empty words.

Germany and Europe languished in an economic crisis, hunger and a state of no-hope. America's support put new life into them. It gave Europe the heart to work together. It was the basis for economic recovery and political reconstruction under the auspices of freedom.

It provided the foundation for a friendship between America and Germany that to this day has a formative influence on the relationship between the people of the two countries and to this day is a firm constant in our relations.

Occasional discussions and irritations over specific political issues do not alter anything. Sure, our views differed over the Iraq issue. But a friendship like ours can take that.

We are now looking ahead. The people in our two countries expect that and rightfully so. Our European neighbors too can expect this strong transatlantic partnership to remain a key motor for mastering the great challenges in and beyond Europe.

The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies is a good example for the shared commitment of our two countries. For our joint contribution towards moving on from old Europe - and towards building the new one.

While the road taken by western Europe after World War II led to economic prosperity and democracy, eastern Europe remained barred from them for half a century. The division of Europe went right through Germany. We finally overcame it not least due to the unreserved support of our American friends.

As early as 31 May 1989, a year before German reunification, the then US president, George Bush, displayed impressive vision, declaring, "The world has waited long enough. The time is right. Let Europe be whole and free." A year later, Germany was reunited.

America had remained true to itself: its ideals and values, its responsibility, its allies and friends. From then on, our two countries tied in deep friendship and in a new responsibility - worked together to point the right way ahead for the whole of the continent. To complete the single and free Europe. To bring together the nations of America, Europe and Central Asia.

Germany and America became pioneers working to open NATO's doors to the new democracies in eastern Europe. Germany and America always agreed about the political aim of also strengthening and enlarging the European Union. And our two countries always had a completely clear concept: Europe and the Euro-Atlantic community of values do not end at the frontiers of NATO and the EU.

Ladies and gentlemen, anyone intent on establishing true stability in today's complex and interdependent world must be prepared to go a step further. We need broad cooperation and trustful dialog with all the states in Europe and the neighboring regions. This is the only way we can enhance peace and stability across the continent and improve the capacity for joint action.

This requires us to be prepared to help build democracy and a market economy as well as to convey our way of thinking about security to the new partners and involve them in the debate on security.

The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies has assumed an irreplaceable and incomparable role in this respect over the last 10 years as a transatlantic institute for defense issues.

The figures alone speak for themselves. Over 8,000 participants have attended the institute's seminars; some 2,500 international students have completed the three types of courses offered. The course students come from countries ranging as far as apart, according to the alphabet at least, as Albania and Uzbekistan. Personnel from more than 45 countries have so far had the opportunity to consider foreign and security policy issues at the center. The teaching staff come from eight nations and work in three languages English, German and Russian.

In short: The key feature of the Marshall Center is its internationality. It has developed into a unique forum for encounters and exchanges with the states of central and eastern Europe and central Asia. It is a place where friendships are forged that will one day bear fruit and overcome frontiers. This way, Europe grows together, develops partnerships with the countries of central Asia and remains a firm friend of North America.

The Marshall Center's best reference is the long list of civilians and military personnel who have passed through the institute, many of whom today hold prominent positions in their countries and exert considerable influence. It shows that the Marshall Center offers people a great chance to boost their knowledge of security matters, learn about the characteristic political and cultural features of a whole variety of nations and to use the competence acquired to help determine the destinies of their countries.

Ever since its inception, the institute has proved its worth as a key center of intellectual activity geared to refining the Euro-Atlantic security structures. It is a source of valuable impulse for cooperation with the new partners. It is also a visible expression of a security philosophy centered on the conviction that: security in Europe and in the world is indivisible, only shared security is stable security.

We are building bridges here in Garmisch. We are helping to establish a community of values, a network between those responsible for security in the states of old Europe and new Europe. The success proves we are right. The response in all the countries in question is still immense.

The institute's good reputation and standing did not come about by chance. They are the result of hard work and a high level of commitment. The Marshall Center's success story is a success shared by all those concerned.

Not only the two countries that sponsor the institute, but rather the teachers and lecturers, the whole staff and, of course, the many committed people who have attended the seminars and courses over the past few years.

I would like to thank you all very much once again. Without your effort and hard work, the Marshall Center would have remained a mere mind game of little practical consequence.

I know that our American friends attach extremely high importance to this institute. I can assure you that the German side does too. You can tell this looking at the proportion of the personnel we provide, which we have raised beyond our original plans, and at the operating costs.

You can tell this by considering the everyday work done, the commitment of the German staff members or the active use of the expertise provided by this conference center by the German government.

The conference with parliamentarians from Central Asia in October 2003 in Berlin is just one event I can mention. It will be devoted to a key topic for all states starting out on the road to democracy - democratic control of military forces and the primacy of politics in defense policy. Conferences of this kind are also an expression of our commitment and effort to keep the activities of the Marshall Center in line with the times.

Ladies and gentlemen, George Marshall's thoughts on how to support and rebuild Europe were nothing less than a vision without which the destiny of the devastated continent of Europe would have remained uncertain.

Today, we are working together to take his vision of cooperation, mutual assistance and support and collaboration with partners a further step forward. For we know that there is no alternative.

The terrible events of 11 September 2001 and since then have merely confirmed this. We have had to acknowledge that in geographical terms, defense today knows no bounds. We have seen that a broad coalition of all willing states can put an end to threats such as international terrorism.

It is good that the Marshall Center has adapted its curriculum, also with respect to this topic. We know that destabilizing developments that impair our security can ultimately be eliminated for good only by bringing about political and social change.

This was true 50 years ago of western Europe. It was true 10 years ago of eastern Europe. It is true today of many other regions.

The US president meant just this on 26 February of this year when, with the Middle East in mind, he made clear that: political democratization, social reform and economic prosperity are the core elements of any long-term strategy designed to weaken the terrorist recruitment base and stabilize crisis regions.

The Marshall Center is working precisely on the basis of this political goal, as George Marshall himself put it in his 1947 speech: It is a question of permitting "the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist."

It is the concept that will guarantee George C. Marshall Center goes on being a success.

I thank you.