Germany and Mongolia enter into strategic partnership

Representatives of Germany and Mongolia signed an agreement on a strategic partnership in the presence of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar on Wednesday.

"Mongolia and Germany have really long-standing and very friendly relations," said Steinmeier during his state visit. With the strategic partnership, Germany is now one of Mongolia's closest partners, he added.

Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh said that Germany was the first country in Europe to establish such a partnership with Mongolia.

He referred to the many Mongolians who had already learnt about German culture and language in Germany. To this day, they form a bridge between the peoples of the two countries, the president said.

The occasion for Steinmeier's trip is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Relations with the former East Germany go back even further - partly because numerous labour migrants from Mongolia lived there. Today, around 1% of the population - around 30,000 people - speak German.

Germany's president also wants to send a geopolitical signal with his trip. Mongolia, a democratic state, is geographically sandwiched between its two authoritarian neighbours Russia and China.

At the same time, Mongolia is one of the most resource-rich countries in the world.

Ulaanbaatar is trying to broaden its relations - politically and economically. Germany also wants to reduce its economic dependence on individual states such as Russia.

In addition to political talks and a state banquet, the programme for Steinmeier and his delegation includes a visit to the Genghis Khan National Museum, a nomadic family and a school where German is taught as a foreign language.

Germany and Mongolia are already working closely together - for example on archaeological excavations in Karakorum, the old capital of the Mongol Empire, on raw materials and international peacekeeping.

Around 1% of the population speaks German, partly because many migrant labourers from Mongolia worked in the former East Germany.

With an area of 1.5 million square kilometres, Mongolia is around four times the size of Germany, but only has around 3.3 million inhabitants.

The sparsely populated steppe country is the home of the legendary Genghis Khan, who conquered a world empire from East Asia to Central Europe with his cavalry armies in the 13th century.