German-Guinea-Bissau relations

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German-Guinea-Bissau relations
Location of Germany and Guinea-Bissau
GermanyGermany Guinea-BissauGuinea-Bissau
Germany Guinea-Bissau

The states of Germany and Guinea-Bissau have had diplomatic relations since 1975. In Germany, Guinea-Bissau maintains its own representation in Berlin, while the Federal Republic of Germany represents itself in Guinea-Bissau through the German Embassy in Dakar in neighboring Senegal .

history

Today's Guinea-Bissau has been part of the Portuguese Empire since the 15th century . At the beginning of the 20th century, however, German entrepreneurs built a palm oil factory on the island of Bubaque , which was later abandoned. The German-South African writer Stefanie Gercke was born here in 1941.

After the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1974, the state of Guinea-Bissau gained full independence, which was also recognized by the Federal Republic of Germany on August 12, 1974. Since 1975 the young country has maintained diplomatic relations with the two German states. After that, friendly relations developed particularly with the GDR . A number of Guinea-Bissauers studied in the GDR, including several later ministers and President Malam Bacai Sanhá, who died in 2012 .

The country's diplomatic relations are also suffering from the persistently difficult economic and political situation in Guinea-Bissau, especially since the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc in the early 1990s. For example, with the civil war in Guinea-Bissau after the attempted coup in 1998, German development cooperation in Guinea-Bissau, which has not yet been resumed (as of the end of 2016), was suspended. After the military coup in April 2012 , diplomatic relations on the German side were also suspended until they were resumed in 2014.

In 2001, which was based out of the circle of friends around the guinea-bissuaischen musicians and athletes Carlos Robalo in Cologne Friendship Society German-Guinean Society, whose main project has since launched the "A school for Bissau". The Escola da Boa Esperança school in Ilondé , which was built in 2004, has now become a school complex with a primary school (grades 1 to 6) and secondary school (grades 7 to 9), and the first graduates are now university students.

Since then, the Federal Republic of Germany has only been involved in Guinea-Bissau in initiatives for political stabilization and economic reforms, in joint projects with EU institutions , international organizations and bilateral partners.

On March 14, 2018, the German citizen Olaf Baungarten was arrested in Guinea-Bissau by the local criminal police. He was staying in the country for a non-governmental organization and had embezzled funds amounting to 90,000 euros, which were intended for the purchase of a dialysis machine for the country's first dialysis center in the capital Bissau. The incident caught the attention of the Guinea-Bissau and Portuguese media.

Sports

The German national soccer team and the Guinea-Bissau national team have not yet met (as of 2017).

The Guinea-Bissau football player Almami Moreira played for Hamburger SV in 2004/2005 .

Culture and tourism

In the 1990s, the Guinea-Bissau singer Américo Gomes lived and studied in Germany for eight years.

For the most part, Guinea-Bissau is not very well developed for tourism, but already offers a number of hotels and holiday resorts, especially on the Bissagos Archipelago . For German holidaymakers, Guinea-Bissau is an unadulterated exotic travel destination, especially for those interested in nature.

Web links

Commons : German-Guinea-Bissauian Relations  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Website of the project A School for Bissau of the German-Guinean Society, accessed on October 13, 2019
  2. Information on German-Guinea-Bissau relations on the website of the Federal Foreign Office , accessed on January 5, 2017
  3. PJ guineense deteve cidadão alemão que ficou com fundos do centro de hemodiálise - "Guinea-Bissau Kripo arrested a German citizen who embezzled funds for dialysis machines" , article from March 14, 2018 of the Portuguese public television RTP , accessed on 14. March 2018
  4. One of the main topics of the evening discussion at the Rádio Nacional Guinea-Bissau , March 14, 2018, 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (local time)
  5. Entries on Guinea-Bissau in the travel community of the German magazine Geo , accessed on January 5, 2017