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?The New Germany, 15 Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Surrounded by Friends?
Wolfgang Thierse, President of the German Bundestag, is someone who has bridged the former divide between East and West. Born in Breslau in 1943 and trained initially in the German Democratic Republic as a typesetter, Thierse embarked on an academic career in the field of culture. After stints at Humboldt University and Ministry of Culture of the GDR, in 1977 he joined the staff of the Central Institute of Literary History at the Academy of Sciences. In October 1989, Thierse joined the Neues Forum (New Forum), the first national opposition movement in the GDR outside of the protestant church. After the fall of the Wall, Thierse joined the newly founded eastern German Social Democratic Party (SPD) in January 1990 and became a member of the GDR parliament, the Volkskammer, before Unification. With Unification in October 1990, he became a member of the German Bundestag and has served as Bundestag President since 1998.
Earlier this year,Thierse visited Washington on the invitation of his counterpart in the US House of Representatives, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R – Illinois). It was the first time in 30 years that the House Speaker had invited the Bundestag President to Washington. Later, Thierse spoke at the BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University on “The New Germany, 15 Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Surrounded by Friends.” The following is an abbreviated version of the speech, as translated into English. “The New Germany, 15 Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Surrounded by Friends” November marks the 15th anniversary of the opening of the Wall in Berlin and the start of the process of German reunification. Those who followed the events of the months following 9 November 1989 will remember with gratitude how quickly and decisively the President at that time, George Bush, acted to help turn German unity into a reality. I still regard German unity as a great blessing. For a major part of my life I had to do without many things: freedom, free speech, the right to be able to read any book I wanted to. “There is, after all, a price to be paid for freedom. But I am in no doubt that, in another 15 years’ time, all this effort and expenditure will have paid off economically, as well.” Since then, however, people have started to grumble and joke about Germany’s economic and budgetary problems. Some have had real cause for concern. But what has often been forgotten is that our country suddenly had to provide for an additional 16.4 million inhabitants, people who, up to that point, had been unable to make any contributions to the country’s social systems or pay taxes. Not only had the GDR, the German Democratic Republic, kept us in East Germany locked behind a wall, it had also pursued a calamitous economic policy that squandered the country’s economic assets. Probably even a slower and more carefully prepared reunification of the two so different German states could not have fully prevented what happened after reunification: the collapse of virtually all East Germany’s major industrial undertakings, a radical decline in research capacities and a correspondingly swift rise in unemployment. It is not surprising that 15 years on, we are still grappling with the fallout from the almost total collapse of the East German economy. Unemployment, at nearly 20 %, is almost double the level in the West. The average rate in West Germany is significantly under 10 %, with a peak of 15 % in only one region. Over one million people have left East Germany since 1989. But, of course, we have not been sitting idle in the meantime. There are a whole series of growth centers in East Germany: the chemical industry, computer technology, shipyards, the optical, car and food industries are all making great progress in Halle, Leipzig, Dresden, Jena, Rostock, Eisenach and around Berlin. The universities in East Germany have regained their good reputation, while public-sector research institutions are acting as engines for growth. The current Federal Government has understood that it must support these centers of growth if East Germany is to have a future. Transforming a communist command economy with dwindling assets into a properly functioning free and social market economy in a stable political climate is a complex, tough and costly task. There is, after all, a price to be paid for freedom. But I am in no doubt that, in another 15 years’ time, all this effort and expenditure will have paid off economically, as well.
All the efforts and excitement generated by the process of German unity obscured the need to tackle a reform logjam that had already been diagnosed in West Germany at the beginning of the 90s. Ironically, the East Germans had to adjust to a system that was itself in need of radical change. The present Federal Government has been the first to start to bring in the reforms which were already urgently needed back in 1990. But at the time of the change of government in 1998, the first task facing the new political majority, with their pacifist ethos or, at least, their roots in the peace movement, was to adjust to new foreign policy challenges which were in conflict with these leanings. After the collapse of the old bi-polar world order, diplomatic and economic means were no longer sufficient to solve the problems in the Balkans and contain the violence which was erupting there. We needed military force - and we needed the assistance and resolve of the USA to halt the genocide that was being perpetrated. NATO and the German Bundeswehr faced a new task: the use of military means - that is to say, force - to enforce peace, or at least to end the violence. There are still thousands of German and other European troops stationed in Bosnia Herzegovina and Macedonia to safeguard the peace, disarm racist or simply criminal gangs and enable civil society to develop. “At present Germany is the country which – after the United States – has the greatest number of troops deployed on peacekeeping missions around the world.” Since then we have been pressing ahead with the reorganization of the Bundeswehr set in motion by the previous government. We needed to respond to the fact that Germany in the reunified Europe is encircled by friends and hence no longer needs a national defense force in the traditional sense. But in view of our economic potential, our size and our position in Europe, but above all in view of the full sovereignty that we regained through unification and the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Regard to Germany, we now have international responsibilities. And we have had to adjust to this fact politically AND militarily. We are, naturally, gratified that the international community has praised and acknowledged our efforts in this respect, not least our major commitment to Afghanistan. At present Germany is the country which – after the United States – has the greatest number of troops deployed on peacekeeping missions around the world. … Notwithstanding the controversy over the Iraq war which is now over and consigned to history, Germany and the United States of America stand firm together against the new brand of international fundamentalist-inspired terrorism. In Germany the attacks of 11 September 2001 mobilized tremendous feelings of sympathy, solidarity and grief. The fact is that our transatlantic friendship stretches back more than 50 years. And we also regarded 9/11 not just as a matter for the USA. Our reason and our instincts told us that the terror was directed against all who espouse freedom, democracy and human rights and wish to live their lives on the basis of these values. In this respect Germans and Americans are of one heart and mind. … In Germany we are working resolutely and vigilantly to combat terrorism, but at the same time we refuse to let this rob us of our freedom and the joy and contentment we derive from our personal and working lives. The need to fight terrorism is accepted by all of us and is not an issue that is exploited for party political gain. We are pooling the resources of our intelligence services and working in close cooperation with the United States. Both the government and the opposition in Germany welcome the increased respect for and authority of the United Nations. Whenever the international community agrees to act together - to fight AIDS, hunger and suffering in the world, for example, or to resolve or at least de-escalate serious conflicts in the world – we in Germany and Europe are in full support. It is no exaggeration to say that all of us in Germany believe that every individual and every country must adhere in equal measure to common rules and be subject to a common jurisdiction. We must not allow the law of the strongest to prevail. In the long term we are more likely to stand firm together if we listen to one another. The only way we can preserve and safeguard creation for future generations is if we work together to protect our environment. Those who suddenly strike out on a different path simply because nobody can stop them should not be surprised if their actions provoke criticism and irritation.
“I believe that the mightiest are still the mightiest if they, too, abide by the rules and if they, too, use the institutions which the USA helped initiate and found. It is in this framework and with this understanding that Germany is currently seeking to play its role in the world and take on greater responsibility.” I believe that the mightiest are still the mightiest if they, too, abide by the rules and if they, too, use the institutions which the USA helped initiate and found. It is in this framework and with this understanding that Germany is currently seeking to play its role in the world and take on greater responsibility. The UN has formulated and published an agenda for the 21st century committed to safeguarding peace, fighting hunger and suffering, conserving the world’s vital natural resources and fighting disease - first and foremost AIDS. If we in the rich industrialized nations, the USA, Europe and Japan, focus on these global tasks and persuade other allies such as Russia and China to join this cause, we will not need in future to fear a “clash of civilizations” because there would be, if not justice, then at least fairness in the world. Fanatical fundamentalists, who in some societies are still able to move around freely like fish in water, would be isolated everywhere. If we do not face up to this task in our fight against terror, we may prevail over individual terrorists, but we will never prevail over terrorism itself. … What defines the “West” today would have been inconceivable without the French and the American Revolution. Of all the democratic nations in Europe, the Germans have traveled a particularly long way westwards. Today we are happy to have arrived. We may sometimes appear a little despondent in the face of the processes of economic change underway in the West but we are determined to hold firm to these values and the lifestyles shaped by them. We have learned this less from our own poets and philosophers and far more, after the crimes committed under Nazi Germany, from the USA. We have not forgotten this. And the USA continues to hold a great fascination for our young people in Germany. A variety of major German foundations, the German Marshall Fund and, indeed, the German Bundestag, work in collaboration with the US Congress to organize successful exchanges between young scholars, students and professionals in our two countries. Our political culture in Germany is a culture of negotiation, a search for compromise and understanding. We believe that this experience gives us the right to share responsibility for security and justice in the world. The way day-to-day politics is conducted in the European Union confirms this view. The success of the EU depends not on forcing through strategies but on the ability to accommodate the interests, arguments and feelings of our partners, as well. “Europe will continue in the future to argue over ways and means. But it is precisely this process that will lead us to new, surprising and constructive solutions.” In Europe people often quote the story of a former US Secretary of State of German descent who was supposed to have complained that he did not know Europe’s telephone number, meaning that he did not know who to turn to as the authentic voice of European opinion. I doubt whether the United States is still so unwilling to have to dial several telephone numbers in order to gauge opinion in Europe. But I firmly believe that this minor difficulty is a reflection of the special richness of Europe.
Next year marks the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two; a short space of time for the incredible transformation of a strife-torn continent riven by internal hostility, through the decades of partition, to a union of 25 states committed to upholding peace and economic prosperity in a common democratic order based on a market economy. The next step in the process is the ratification of a common constitution enshrining these goals, which is also designed to rationalize the decision-making process in Europe. Europe is already a single market, bigger than the USA, which operates under many common rules of competition. But we also want to and, indeed, will foster the cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe, nurture the different talents and special regional features of Europe and provide a high level of social security in Europe. Europe will continue in the future to argue over ways and means. But it is precisely this process that will lead us to new, surprising and constructive solutions. The reform of the social state in Europe is an issue that is currently creating political turbulence in Germany. The organization of social solidarity, the principle of the strong taking responsibility for the weak, the healthy for the sick and the young working generations for the older pensioners is a particularly characteristic feature of Europe, perhaps the most important cultural achievement that distinguishes it from other continents. But not all EU countries organize the necessary processes of redistribution in the same way and some started the reform process earlier than others. Germany has been slow off the mark but is now catching up. … Politically, therefore, all aspects of the social state are under review – an economic policy based on provision and precaution aimed at ensuring that growth creates jobs; the safeguarding and level of pensions, labor market policy and the level of material security provided in the event of unemployment, as well as the scope and costs of the health service. The political upshot is that all the pillars of the system are being reorganized at the same time, many old habits and certainties are being questioned. No wonder, then, that there is a mood of discontent. … But it seems that the picture looks better from further away: in its issue at the end of July, the European edition of “Time” magazine wrote that while nobody was forecasting a boom, Germany was in the process of shaking off its problems and re-establishing itself as an engine for economic growth in Europe. Last February “Newsweek”, recognizing Germany’s ongoing reform program and its continuing high potential, ranked Germany, the world’s leading exporter, as the second most powerful country in the world after the USA. I think that is an exaggeration. But even some important elements in the German media, who generally slavishly follow the rule that the only good news is bad news, have begun to publish success stories. The “Handelsblatt”, a long-established daily business newspaper, published a series on “silent stars”, regions which, overshadowed by the major business centers and unnoticed by even the German public, are recording huge growth. “All this taken together will have a positive effect on the mood in Germany and on economic growth, as well as, one hopes, on investments, so that we all have reason to look to the future again with optimism.” Next year I am sure that we will have considerably fewer unemployed. In the past Germany needed growth of at least 2% to generate new jobs. Experts forecast that the reforms will bring the employment threshold down to 1.5% and that we will generate sufficient growth to exceed this margin. I have already mentioned the reduction in health insurance contributions. In addition, on 1 January taxpayers will again see their bill cut by around 7 billion euro this time (after 15 billion euro this year). Six years ago Germany was one of the most expensive countries in Europe for taxpayers, while today we rank in the middle of the field, offering good value. At present longer working hours are being agreed between some of our major companies as well as the public service, and the trades unions (to the displeasure of the latter), and the major German corporations are increasing their expected profit forecasts for the current year. All this taken together will have a positive effect on the mood in Germany and on economic growth, as well as, one hopes, on investments, so that we all have reason to look to the future again with optimism. Six years ago we had too few university students by international standards, we lagged behind in terms of patent registrations and there was a sharp drop in the number of young people from around the world interested in studying in Germany. But despite the very high price of the euro internationally, we remain champion exporters and lead Europe in terms of patent registrations; we also now have the highest ever number of students moving on to university in a given year, well over 30 %, and young people from all over the world are once again interested in studying in Germany. This is no doubt also connected to the fact that we have now evolved modern clearer rules governing citizenship, immigration and the integration of immigrants. You may ask what we Germans will do with the money we will be saving and the additional money we will be earning? I can tell you in a few words: we will be investing in education and reducing our debt. The “Newsweek” ranking I mentioned earlier provided figures in a number of disciplines. There was one listing in which Germany did not appear at all: mineral resources. It is a fact that Germany relies entirely on innovative ability, hard work, organizational talent, commercial reliability and good management, as well as social peace in the country. In short, on education and intellectual resources. Comparative international studies have, it must be said, given us low marks for the present generation of school students and we will have to improve our performance very quickly here. The process of German reunification left the Federal Republic with huge debts. It is probably superfluous to start talking here in Washington about the problems created by excessive national debt. Quite apart from this, we believe in principle that we should not consume today what the generations after us have not yet started to work for. That is why it is our priority to reduce our newly incurred debt as quickly as possible to below three per cent of GDP in line with the requirements of the EU treaty. “Germany is well on track. Even the mood of disenchanted Germans is beginning to improve.” Ladies and Gentlemen, those of you who follow German domestic politics somewhat more closely will know that the Federal Government and the majority supporting it in the German Bundestag have taken a very big risk, the biggest a government can take, namely the risk of being voted out of power at the next opportunity. But perhaps you will also have gathered that this risk will pay off, indeed, is already starting to pay off. All the indicators have been pointing upwards since this summer. Germany is well on track. Even the mood of disenchanted Germans is beginning to improve. We still have a lot to do, but we know we must prioritize: not every task is inherently a “challenge” to be borne and overcome like a stroke of fate. Germany is making headway, and that is the message I wanted to give to you today. Thank you for your attention. |
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