German Ambassador Juergen Weerath said "the responsibility for the future of your country lies in your hands or still in the hands of the political elite and your people and any failure is their collective failure".

The following is the full text of his speech made on October 4 on the occasion of the Day of German Unity.

This indeed is the day the German Nation recalls its reunification, 45 years after the end of the Second World War, a war we regret to say that was caused by Germany. A war that changed the world in the last century in many aspects.

Today, 14 years after East and West Germany came together again in a peaceful way the nation has to realise that such a long period of separation under different political and economic systems is not easy to overcome, either in the minds or in the hearts of the people.

For many years both sides didn’t share the same principles and from one day to the next we had to show mutual respect for each other and understand that one section of our own German people look at themselves and the world from quite a different angle.

Is there anything we can learn from this experience for the Peace Process in Sri Lanka? First of all, it takes time to heal the wounds of two decades of war. Then, we should never accept that this time factor be used by politicians in the games they play to interfere with the peace process.

In other words: This is your country, you and nobody else is responsible for what has happened and what is going to happen.

The responsibility for the future of your country lies in your hands or still in the hands of the political elite and your people and any failure is their collective failure.

We should therefore be grateful to the Norwegians for their role as facilitators and never blame them for lack of progress in the peace process.

There is no doubt if all participants refrain from violence your country will have a chance to regain peace. And then and only then will the international community assume a certain responsibility. The quality of the domestic government and the structure of the civil society should constitute the core of development strategy.

Sri Lanka has many friends all over the world. Germany is among them and more than 60,000 of my fellow countrymen visit the island annually.

They go home with an unclear picture. Sri Lanka means not only the friendliness of the people beautiful landscapes, sea and sand.

But Sri Lanka also presents an image of desperate poverty, brutal killings of innocent people, factors that tarnish the image of Sri Lanka. And of course there are those unable or unwilling to consolidate a peace which seems so near and yet so far. My message is: We heard enough words, we need action.

The Germans in Sri Lanka have come together today to endorse their solidarity. The business people who invest, produce and distribute their goods, the political foundations, the Deutsche Welle and the developing agencies where GTZ has become a household name not only in Sri Lanka.

We are all here to celebrate the Day of German Unity. But much more would we like to celebrate with you the Day of Sri Lankan Unity.