A delegation of five parliamentarians and seven senior government officials from Mongolia spent three days at the George C. Marshall European Centre for Security Studies discussing their roles and responsibilities in a democratic society, from 9th to 11th May. 

“Our partnership with Germany, through the Marshall Centre, is very important for Mongolia,” said Enkhbayar Jadamba, former defense minister now parliamentarian and chairman of the Standing Committee on Security and Foreign Policy. “Out of three million people in Mongolia, 30,000 are studying here in Germany and learning the language. We like to think of Germany as a third neighbor.” 

The Marshall Centre coordinates approximately 12 tailored seminars each year. Seminars are typically requested by the respective U.S. or German embassy or defence agency. Parliamentarians who attend the seminar are most times, newly elected and come from the full spectrum of political parties in their nation.

“Mongolia and Germany have a long history and they want to continue this relationship that began over 40 years ago with East Germany and the Mongolian People’s Republic. We hosted our first tailored seminar with Mongolia in 2014. Since that seminar, only 1 parliamentarian is still serving. Two thirds of Mongolia’s 70-person parliament are freshman,” said Marshall Centre Deputy Dean Sven Gareis. 

The Marshall Centre is often used as a location for bi-lateral staff talks by U.S. and German officials. In August 2009, German and Mongolian defence officials met here for a series of discussions. One of the most important decisions that came from those talks was an agreement that Mongolia would provide the security force for German troops deployed to Afghanistan under the NATO-framework of the International Security Assistance Force.

Germany is the third largest contributor to ISAF and leads the Regional Command North based in Mazar-i-Sharif. Mongolia deployed an infantry platoon there in March 2010.