The day: De Maizière: reduce demands on "inner unity"

German unity has just celebrated its 30th anniversary – at such anniversaries the question always arises whether East and West have now grown together, whether there is now an internal unity. Ex-Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière thinks little of it. He demands more acceptance for differences betweenical East and West Germany.

"I hope that we will significantly reduce our demands and expectations of the concept of internal unity, both in the East and in the West," said the CDU politician in Hanover today. In a pluralistic society the formulation is "at least romanticizing, rather worrying". "The phantom of an internal unity" is not important, but unity and cohesion. This applies to different mentalities, but also with a view to the living conditions in East and West.

The goal of creating "equal living conditions" has led to expectations that cannot be met, since there are also differences within the West and within the East. "The same is something other than equivalent", emphasized de Maizière, who in 1990 was a member of the negotiating delegation for the unification treaty between East and West Germany. "We should give up the habit of pointing fingers at others."