I cannot guarantee people absolute fairness. I can only promise that I will do everything in my power to secure fairness or create a greater degree of fairness.

Imagine a German as president of the European Commission. If he or she goes to some particular country and says do this or that, it won't be very well received. The president quickly ends up being the evil German. But if the president is elected by and controlled by 700 representatives from all EU countries, that legitimizes him or her in a very different way.

I'm not a populist. But I try to present complicated issues in such a way that people know where I stand.

I find it surprising, however, that many German politicians generally oppose referendums, but then when it's an EU matter, they immediately scream for a plebiscite.

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

The racist rhetoric that extends all the way to the top of the AfD shows that one must assume that an attitude is prevalent - not just in the grassroots, but also among party leadership - that is not consistent with the basic values reflected in our constitution.

The EU is an unique project that replaced war with peace, hate with solidarity. Overwhelming emotion for awarding of Nobel prize to EU