Haseloff: East-West differences still visible for decades to come

In the view of Saxony-Anhalt's Minister President Reiner Haseloff, it will take decades before living conditions in East and West Germany are fully equalized. "We have a reunified Germany. But unification is not yet complete," the CDU politician told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

The Bible says that the sins of the fathers extend to the third and fourth generations, according to Haseloff. "This means that one hundred years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the division between East and West will perhaps no longer be visible in the statistical yearbook." So far, statistics continue to show differences between the two areas, "in all areas", said Haseloff.

The new federal government must "really pick up steam" by the summer, said the CDU politician. "The economy must get going again." Haseloff is the longest-serving minister president in Germany; he has been head of government in Saxony-Anhalt since 2011.