Peter Beyer, German government’s transatlantic coordinator, talks to RIAS alumni group

RIAS Berlin Commission board member Peter Beyer gave a riveting two-hour talk to a group of 28 RIAS Berlin alumni members. Beyer, a member of parliament for the conservative Christian Democrats, is also the German government’s transatlantic coordinator. He talked candidly about many of the challenges facing German-American relations at the moment. He stressed nevertheless that “there is more that unites us than divides us.”

Beyer said he travels to the United States about once each month and made no secret of his positive view of the country and its people. He said he sometimes wished that German journalists would report more of other parts of the country away from Washington D.C. After giving his talk, Beyer took time to do several interviews with some of the RIAS alumni who brought their microphones to the event.

It was one of the biggest alumni chapter meetings ever in Berlin and kicks off a big year of alumni events. Another big alumni event will take place in Washington DC on March 13 and another one on March 20 in New York City when a group of 12 journalists from Germany on a RIAS program to the United States meets with the local chapters.

There will also be a large RIAS alumni event on May 7 in Berlin at the annual RIAS media prize awards ceremony and a special alumni gathering the following evening in Berlin on May 8.