Merkel counts East Germans and naturalized Syrians equally as part of the “people”

Former Chancellor Angela Merkel warns against attempts to divide the population by “populist parties”. The promise of a life of freedom is under pressure, said Merkel in the Leipzig Gewandhaus when awarding the International Mendelssohn Prize.

In her words, populist parties tried to divide human dignity. “There is the people and then there are the elites and then there are those who have only been citizens for a very short time, and then there are those who have been citizens for a little longer, and you try to distance yourself, you try to stir up hatred, you try to differentiate and thus arouse envy,” said Merkel.

“All German citizens are the people”

In Germany, all power comes from the people – “but the people are all German citizens,” emphasized Merkel. “And they don’t ask: ‘Did you come here later from the GDR, or maybe you, as a Syrian, only came here three years ago?’ All German citizens are the people.”

The former Chancellor emphasized: Europe is always “added value for us”. It is also important to “put yourself in the other person’s shoes” and not think that you already know everything. “Others also have considerable arguments,” said Merkel. The former Chancellor also spoke about the concerns of young people. She did not address the current protests of the “Gen Z regulates” movement.