Overview
- Speaking at the CDU Saxony-Anhalt party conference in Magdeburg, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was fortunate to have been born and raised in the West rather than in the GDR.
- He contrasted what he described as roughly 80 years of peace and freedom in the West with about 35 years in the East since reunification.
- Merz argued that Germany's achievements are the result of choices, emphasizing his message with the line, "Politics works."
- He cited the recent days-long dispute within the black-red federal government over a pension package as a discussion that was "right and necessary."
- Calling for greater composure in public discourse, he urged the party to be "streitfähig" again and noted that past Bundestag disputes, including those after 1990, tend to fade from memory.