At the invitation of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, a group of political leaders and communicators from Bavaria went to Montreal and Ottawa at the end of April. The discussions and meetings focused on expanding the partnership between Bavaria and Quebec, the Canadian commitment in Afghanistan and immigration and integration policies. The delegation was led by former Minister of State Erwin Huber, member of the Bavarian parliament, and by Dr. Hans-Peter Uhl, MP and spokesman of the CDU /CSU MPs on domestic policies. Renate Dodell, Dr. Otmar Bernhard and Alexander Radwan, members of the Bavarian parliament, were also part of the delegation.

Canada’s Defence Minister Peter MacKay thanked the delegation for Germany’s significant military commitment in Afghanistan and promised that his country would actively engage in stabilization measures at the Hindukush even after the completion of its troop withdrawal, which is planned for the end of 2011.

During talks with Vic Toews, Minister for Public Security, the delegation gathered information regarding the efforts of Canadian security agencies in their fight against Islamist terror groups. The focal point of the talks with Immigration Minister Jason Kenney were current efforts aimed at reforming Canadian immigration and integration policies. A delegation of young political leaders and disseminators from Bavaria, led by Michael Frieser, MP and member of the Law and Domestic Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, and two members of the Bavarian parliament, Markus Blume and Martin Schöffel, went to Washington in early May. The currency crisis of the Eurozone, the urgent need for international action in the nuclear dispute with Iran and the mid-term elections in the US in autumn 2010 were at the centre of these talks and meetings. Republican dialogue partners, such as the Congressmen Rob Bishop (Utah), Jeff Fortenberry (Nebraska), Gregg Harper (Mississippi) and Dr. John Fleming (Louisiana) were very confident hat their party would be able to regain the majority at the House of Representatives after the mid-term elections in early November.

In mid-May, Christian Schmidt, MP and Parliamentary State Secretary at the Defence Ministry, went to Washington for political consultations. Talks at Capitol Hill with the senators Jon Kyl (Republican Whip, Arizona), Joe Lieberman (Democrat, Connecticut) and Scott Brown (Republican, Massachusetts) focussed on the German commitment in Afghanistan and on the current state of the bidder competition between Airbus and Boeing for the modernization of the fleet of refuelling aircraft of the USAF.

In late June, the 25th “Hanns-Seidel-Memorial-Fellowship Programme” offered foreign policy advisors of senators and congressmen as well as think-tanks and journalists from the US and Canada the opportunity to engage in political talks in Munich, Brussels and Berlin in order to deepen their understanding of German and European politics. In Munich, the delegation met the Bavarian Finance Minister Georg Fahrenschon, who explained the challenges for finance policies in Bavaria in view of the economic crisis. In Brussels, the delegation also spoke with John Heffern, Deputy to the US NATO Ambassador, about plans for a new strategic concept for the alliance. Security policies were also at the focus of a meeting with Christian Schmidt, MP and Parliamentary State Secretary at the Defence Ministry in Berlin.

In early September, Dr. Peter Witterauf, CEO of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, went on a working visit to Ottawa and Washington. The talks in Ottawa with Joseph Ingram, president of the North-South Institute, and with George Anderson, president of the Forum of Federations, centered on international development aid cooperation, particularly in Afghanistan, Pakistan and China. In Washington, Dr. Witterauf also met Lorne Craner, President of the International Republican Institute, Bob Kimmitt, former Deputy US Finance Minister, and Congressman Tom Petri from Wisconsin, in order to discuss the current economic situation in the US and the expected consequences of the upcoming congressional elections.

A delegation of members of the Bavarian parliament, led by former Minister of State, Prof. Ursula Männle and Melanie Huml, Minister of State for Environment and Health, traveled to Washington in early October. The main topics discussed were possible consequences of the midterm elections on international politics and German-US relations, the reform of the US health service and US efforts to support women and democracy around the world. The latter was also discussed with Judy Van Rest, Executive Vice President of the International Republican Institute (IRI).

Johannes Singhammer, MP and Deputy Whip of the CDU/CSU, and a number of other Bavarian politicians participated in a series of political talks in Washington in mid-November, discussing the result of the mid-term elections and the consequences for US politics. During the talks at Capitol Hill with Senator Scott Brown from Massachusetts and others, the delegation from the Hanns Seidel Foundation emphasized the importance of proceeding with the ratification of the START treaty for international relations, which was a controversial issue in the US at the time. Terrorist attacks on Christians in Iraq and concrete measures to protect religious minorities in the Near East were at the centre of a meeting with Republican Congressmen Jeff Fortenberry (Nebraska) and Chris Smith (New Jersey).

The Washington Liaison Bureau also contributed to organizing political meetings and talks for Siegfried Schneider, Head of the Bavarian Chancellery and member of the Bavarian parliament and for Manfred Weber, Deputy Whip of the EVP at the European Parliament.