I'm fully aware that my vision of a European bicameral parliament can't be implemented tomorrow. I'm also not an integration fanatic.

The problem with us EU politicians is that we approach everything with cool rationality, and then wonder why we don't win people over emotionally.

You can't always be demanding solidarity from others and then refuse to show it yourself.

I have friends in politics who really put the friendship to the test through their behavior.

We need a comprehensive renewal of the nursing care system in Germany, and quickly. The two-tier medical system must be abolished. Patients with public health insurance are waiting months to be seen by a specialist doctor, while doctors increasingly give priority to privately insured patients. That's unacceptable. We also need an educational revolution. Medicine, nursing care, education: Germany is not a modern country when it comes to these three areas. We have to adapt our policies to the social reality. These are projects that can awaken Germany out of its torpor.

Donald Trump has made the principle of purposely breaking a taboo into a means of achieving his political objectives, which is something that he has in common with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Trump systematically violates international rules. But we cannot allow ourselves to forget that Trump is not the U.S.

I believe that dignified work is a value in itself.