02/10/2004
Al-Akhbar Newspaper 2004/OCTOBER /02
Germany, an important partner of the Arabs, has always been playing a leading role in the European integration process. Recently, though, it has had some economic problems and the government led by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has adopted a plan to tackle them. This program aims at dealing with the roots of these hardships, which basically lie in the disparity between Eastern and Western Germany after the country’s reunification.(Available in Arabic – German in PDF )
Relations between the Arabs and Germany are very good, as proved for example by many cultural initiatives. Germany has always played a pioneering role in the European integration process and it has been providing the greatest share of the EU budget. Yet domestically, Germany has been going through economic problems. To tackle them, Chancellor Schroeder has called for an economic reform program mainly to curb unemployment. This program is based on cutting social assistance for unemployed and providing it for a shorter period of time. Since the reunification, unemployment has gone up in the East, pushing many young men to travel to the West in search for a job. An official ascribes this to the privatization process. Yet, the former East Germany is still much better off than many Eastern European countries.