We agree: Brussels can't regulate everything. I'm driven by something else: There are forces in Europe that want to generally give national policy priority over a common European approach. We have to prevent this.

When we were negotiating the ongoing financial period in 2013, I talked myself hoarse. London and Berlin in particular insisted on reducing the budget. So we - to the applause of German journalists - made cuts to central future-oriented areas and slashed the budget for development aid, research and technology.

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

I would never attack somebody only because they belong to a different party.

Donald Trump is betraying everything that made America great: tolerance, democratic institutions and respect for the individual. In that sense, Trump is the most un-American U.S. president that the country has had in a long time.

I am a man of parliament, a man of the people. I am not a representative of the executives.

I believe it is wrong to give Moscow a rebate on Ukraine sanctions because of Syria.