The German President, Mr Johannes Rau, had a meeting with the Taoiseach in Dublin yesterday on the final day of his visit to Ireland.
Mr Rau met Mr Ahern before a lunch in his honour in Dublin's Iveagh House. The President also visited Trinity College Dublin, he met German and Irish business people and he launched the Learn German Initiative at the Goethe Institute in Merrion Square.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, he said that while the imminent expansion of the EU to the east was of great importance for Germany, "we are aware of our ties to the west. We are a western European country."
He said Ireland's presidency of the EU in the first half of next year would be of great importance because of two events taking place during it: a decision on a new European constitution and the enlargement of the Union to include 10 new members.
Speaking at the lunch in Iveagh House in the President's honour, Mr Ahern spoke of relations between Europe and the United States, which he said were important to both Ireland and Germany.
Without referring to the tensions between Germany and the US before and during the American-led invasion of Iraq, the Taoiseach said the "major challenges of our time cannot be solved either by Americans or Europeans alone, but together".