We need trust among allies and partners. Such trust now has to be built anew.

Trying to keep a society together, trying to keep the older and the younger people together, trying to keep those who live in rural areas together with those who live in cities is one of the most important and most noble tasks of politicians these days.

I think we can say our energy system will be the most efficient and environmentally friendly in the world.

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.

On the issue past of independence of Germany, after the time of National Socialism, Germany has been given an enormous amount of help particularly and also from the United States of America. A fact that we were able to enjoy German unification is due first and foremost to the help of the United States of America.

There's a rumour going around that states cannot go bankrupt. This rumour is not true.

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.