Antony Blinken, Heiko Maas share jokes at Berlin youth event

German foreign minister Heiko Maas shared a beer with US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Thursday as they met students at a youth outreach event in Berlin.

During the meeting, which was held in the open air, the two ministers noted how good it was to have a drink together after months of coronavirus restrictions.

Earlier, they launched a new initiative to stem an alarming rise in antisemitism and Holocaust denial around the world.

They announced the start of a US-Germany Holocaust Dialogue that seeks to reverse a trend that gained traction during the coronavirus pandemic, amid a surge in political populism across Europe and the US.

The dialogue creates a formal mechanism to develop educational and messaging tools to teach young people and others about the crimes of the Nazis and their collaborators.

Blinken and Maas also met Holocaust survivors at the inauguration of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin.

IMAGE: AP