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| Europe |
| New German president urges more European solidarity |
| 2012-03-24 |
| [Dawn] Germany on Friday swore in new president Joachim Gauck, who warned the government that it had a historical obligation to help Europe's weakest members as they struggle to stay financially afloat. Gauck, the first head of state from the former communist east, delivered the impassioned appeal to members of parliament and Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... in the light-flooded chamber of the Reichstag parliament building. "We must keep saying yes to Europe," said Gauck, who was elected president by a special assembly with an overwhelming majority on Sunday. "Particularly in times of crisis, the tendency to retreat to the level of the nation state is very common. European unity is however impossible without the life's blood of solidarity. Particularly in the crisis, we must dare to have more Europe."Gauck, 72, said that languishing under the Nazi and then the communist dictatorships had made the notion of a united Europe living in peace, freedom and prosperity a driving force of his political awakening. "Europe was the promised land for my generation," he said. "For my grandchildren, Europe has long been part of their day-to-day reality, with freedom across borders and the opportunities and concerns of an open society. This reality is an achievement, not only for my grandchildren." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Chancellor is prime minister. President is an elected figurehead, like Queen Elizabeth II, only without the bloodlines or the lifetime tenure. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2012-03-24 15:27 |
| #1 bit confused. what's the role of the President vs. that of the chancellor? |
| Posted by: Otto Untervehr6460 2012-03-24 14:56 |