GERMANY: The German President, Mr Horst Köhler, put his foot in it after just two months in the job - after telling Germans in eastern states that they should get used to being the country's poor relations, writes Derek Scally in Berlin
Mr Köhler, an economist, said that, 15 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was unrealistic to expect eastern states to reach the living standard of western states and that money transfers from west to east were breeding a subsidy mentality.
"There were and are, everywhere in the republic, large differences in living standards. Those who want to even out (differences) are cementing the state subsidy system and placing an unbearable debt burden on the younger generation," said Mr Köhler. He said it was important to prevent an east-west division, but with unemployment running at over 20 per cent in some eastern areas, it was time for easterners to set priorities: "Either go where they see chances . . . or make a conscious decision to give priority to staying in their hometown."
The split reaction elicited by his remarks show once again how divided the country remains between east and west. The Munich-based, left-wing Süddeutsche Zeitung said Mr Köhler's logic would "depopulate the east of the country". Mr Wolfgang Clement, the economics minister, said the remarks were a "perfectly correct description".