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.

It is a fact that, if I single out Germany, our rate of growth is too low and we have very high unemployment.

Belong purportedly to certain groups say, "We are the people and not the others." That is something that we cannot allow to happen. That is something that I think at the time in the GDR - at the time when we had this in the GDR, where the people stood in the street and said, "We are the people," that is something that filled me with great joy.

We have very stable mechanisms of conflict resolution in terms of labor relations, we have a very good transportation infrastructure, we provide our children with an excellent education and the gap between rich and poor in Germany is relatively narrow. On the other hand, we have trouble accepting change.

When it comes to human dignity, we cannot make compromises.

If you want to be constructive in politics, the less you look back, the better. If you do look back, then it can only be to learn for yourself through the events that have taken place.

Europe can only hold together and stand together, which is very important in times of migration challenges, terrorism challenges, if each country takes responsibility for itself.