The [Barack Obama] administration is sharing its knowledge, its expertise with the incoming administration. And this, to us, is a sign of encouragement, to continue the good cooperation that we have built between the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Germany that is in our mutual interest.

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.

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

The plurality of German campaign formats, including the televised debates, reflect that we in Germany don't directly vote for a person like in the United States or in France, but for parties. We have a different system.

The question is: Would there be a market in Germany for certain types of employment if one were to allow the employed person to earn less than is necessary to maintain his standard of living?

We have shared those values, we continue to share those values and obviously, we will continue to cooperate with the new administration [of the U.S].

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