At the end of March we met Bijan Djir-Sarai, the acting Secretary General of the FDP. Even though in his new role as Secretary General of the FDP Bijan Djir-Sarai is involved less in foreign policy and more in party and domestic policy, he had great interest in our current reader “Foreign policy – Jewish-German perspectives”. Mr Djir-Sarai sees it as one of his tasks to give the FDP a more distinct profile in the field of foreign policy as well, and in doing so to orient it strictly towards human and civil rights, since these are after all coming under increasing pressure worldwide. This can be seen not only in the Russian attack on Ukraine, but also in China, Iran and many other countries of the world. A further topic corresponding to the content of our reader is the political handling of authoritarian regimes: Putin or the Iranian rulers – both require that one does not dismiss their rhetoric as harmless and innocuous. As a democracy capable of defending itself, we must be able to defend our values at home and abroad.
