Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Steinmeier talks about new walls appearing in Germany

Germany celebrated yesterday the Day of German Unification.

Twenty-seven years ago the former German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany.

The main event of yesterday's celebrations took place in Mainz where German President Frank Walter Steinmeier spoke.

He said that since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, less visible "walls" now divide the country.

The election exposed "large and small cracks" in German society, he said, calling on lawmakers to work together to fight any return to nationalism.

"On September 24, it became clear that other walls have arisen, less visible, without barbed wire and death-strips, but walls that stand in the way of our common sense of 'us'," Steinmeier said.

Steinmeier a former leading member of the SPD was foreign minister before being elected German president in March. 

He said that "behind these walls, a deep distrust in democracy and its representatives is being fomented."

The president also called for a national discussion on migration — one of the main issues that arose during the election — adding that this would mean creating new guidelines.

"In my view, this means not simply wishing away migration but ... defining legal admission to Germany, which regulates and controls migration by our stipulations," Steinmeier noted.

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