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East Commissioner: Still many prejudices about East Germans
The Eastern Commissioner Carsten Schneider on his function: “As long as the catching-up process has not ended up in the overtaking process, I think we need this function in the Chancellery.” photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa/Archive
As long as the catching-up process has not yet ended up in the overtaking process, it needs its function, says the federal government’s representative for Eastern Europe. He hopes, however, that his function will not be necessary for too long.
The Federal Government Commissioner for the East, Carsten Schneider, hopes, in his own words, that his position will not be necessary for too long. It is still important because there are many prejudices against East Germans, said the SPD politician on Sunday at the East German Economic Forum in Bad Saarow, Brandenburg. “As long as the catching-up process hasn’t ended in the overtaking process, I think we need this function in the chancellery.” But he hopes it won’t last much longer.
The native of Thuringia sees the eastern German federal states in a special time with regard to the transformation processes. Start-ups and new business models are needed. That is why universities and business start-ups are important in the East. Schneider cited Jena in Thuringia as a positive example.
At the conference in Bad Saarow, about 50 kilometers southeast of Berlin, from Sunday to Tuesday, representatives from politics, business, science and society will discuss economic change. It is about conditions for industrial companies, the shortage of skilled workers, global competition and energy supply. Chancellor Olaf Scholz was expected at the conference on Sunday evening.