A family with two children and which earns 2,500 euros a month would have 350 euros less, ... Merkel's policies do not take into account the simple people.

[Mrs. Merkel, now 51, could hardly wait to seize the moment to embrace unification.] As far as I have been shaped by politics, I have been shaped by German reunification, ... I am proud to be a politician for all of Germany with East German roots.

This is not a farewell.

seven years of empty promises, of following the wrong policies, or of not seeing things through.

Frau Merkel, you are being unfair. Germany is a world leader in exports. We are a leading country in issuing patents. No other country in Europe has these results.

In times of difficulty, Lafontaine simply takes his clothes off and runs away,