We cannot stand alone. With 80 million people in this world of today, you cannot, when you just stand on your own, achieve much even though you may be economically strong.

We cannot allow employers in Germany to pay hourly wages of 50 cents and shift the remainder of the burden to the taxpayer. After all, we want to create jobs, not open a self-service shop for resourceful employers.

No bank should be allowed to become so big that it can blackmail governments.

We have freedom to demonstrate in Germany, but there is no place for incitement and insulting people who come to us from other countries.

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

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

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