With the slogan, "We are for Europe", Westerwelle, of the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP), is planning an appearance with his predecessors Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Klaus Kinkel, also of the FDP, and Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the opposition centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). Originally, Joschka Fischer, a former foreign minister from the Green party had also been slated for participation.
The gathering is intended to warn Germans against a retreat from the European Union, according to the conservative German daily Die Welt. While the foreign ministers may disagree on a number of other key issues, the group believes that protecting the euro is of paramount importance to the country.
In a speech to German parliament in May, Westerwelle said: "The great historical question is whether the centrifugal forces that affect Europe are more powerful than the political strength of cohesion.... Once Europe starts to be abandoned piece by piece, it will be completely lost at the very end." Westerwelle has argued that greater integration is necessary because the EU and the euro provide Germany more than financial benefits. "Europe is a community of values", he said in the May speech. "There is a European model for life that we can be proud of."
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