Megawati Receives German Ambassador, Discusses Middle East and 71st KAA Commemoration
Indonesia’s fifth president and PDIP General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri received the German Ambassador to Indonesia, Ralf Beste. The meeting discussed the current geopolitical situation.
The meeting took place at Megawati’s residence in Menteng, Jakarta, on Friday (17/4/2026). Megawati was accompanied by PDIP Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto, PDIP DPP Chairman Ahmad Basarah, and Executive Director of the Megawati Institute Hilmar Farid.
“Mrs Megawati and Ambassador Ralf Beste discussed geopolitics, including the current situation in the Middle East and the Asian-African Conference (KAA Bandung), which will be commemorated for its 71st anniversary tomorrow,” Hasto said.
The meeting lasted approximately one hour. Upon being welcomed by Megawati, the German Ambassador said he had recently visited Bandung and seen the KAA Museum.
“I toured to learn more about Indonesia. I just went to Bandung and visited the KAA Museum,” Ambassador Ralf said.
Hasto said the German Ambassador was impressed by Sukarno’s role in mobilising the awakening of nations in Asia and Africa.
“Impressed by the history of Bung Karno’s pioneering role in the KAA. According to the German Ambassador, the thoughts and spirit of the KAA remain relevant,” Hasto said.
Hearing the German Ambassador’s acknowledgement, Megawati then recounted her experience accompanying Soekarno as the youngest delegate at the age of 14 at the 1961 Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Megawati recalled the moment of sitting with national figures such as Jawaharlal Nehru (India) and Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt).
“At that time, I called them uncle,” Megawati said with a smile.
During that conference, Bung Karno requested to meet with world leaders and made special notes on the matters they conveyed.
Basarah said Megawati gave several books of Sukarno’s speeches at the KAA. In addition, there were also books of speeches when Bung Karno spoke at the United Nations with the title To Build The World A New, as well as the book The Birth of Pancasila.
Furthermore, the meeting also discussed current issues. Megawati, Basarah said, conveyed the importance of anticipating the occurrence of a global crisis. In the meeting, Megawati also recounted the economic crisis in 1997 until it was successfully resolved during her presidency.
“Mrs Megawati explained how her government at that time succeeded in stabilising the rupiah exchange rate, paying off Indonesia’s foreign debt, and successfully resolving the crisis,” Basarah stated.
“Mrs Megawati also recounted her not-easy experience in resolving the multidimensional crisis when she was the fifth President of the Republic of Indonesia and was able to resolve various issues at BPPN to pay off loans to the IMF. Why was that conveyed? Because the war against Iran and the impact of blocking the Strait of Hormuz is putting the world faced with a crisis that must be anticipated,” Basarah continued, quoting Megawati.