I want to see everyone contribute to the overall costs of the system, and with their entire earnings. I'm convinced that an objective discussion will reveal that the differences between the parties, which have been greatly exaggerated in some quarters, aren't that significant after all.

The US military has achieved a decisive blow against al-Qaeda with its commando action against Osama Bin Laden and his killing.

From a German point of view, German-American and European-American relations are a pillar of our foreign policy.

For my part, in everything I do, I aim to strengthen democracy in Germany and beyond. The United States is also a strong democracy. As we are seeing in Poland, for example, and also in Hungary, it is important that we have counterweights in democratic systems, and I believe they are still strong in America.

Particularly from a German perspective, from a European perspective, I can only say again, Russia is our neighbor.

The land of unlimited opportunity was for me, for a long time, impossible to reach. The wall, barbed wire and the order to shoot at those who tried to leave limited my access to the free world.

Globalization - and I think we share this conviction - is that globalization needs to be shaped politically, it needs to be given a human face, but we cannot allow to fall back into plagued globalization times.