03/10/2004
The Egyptian Gazette Newspaper 2004/OCTOBER /03
The Anniversary of the reunification of Germany falls within a few days of the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair, where the Arab World is guest of honour. This coincidence is, perhaps, complimentary with relations between Germany and the Arab countries .
After 15 years of unity Germany is now, with France, one of the two main leaders of the European Union. Germany is now the biggest contributor to the 122 billion dollars budget of the European Union and the leader of the 12 members of the Euro-Group. Within the union Germany is facing a number of challenges. Recently the Polish Parliament passed unanimously a resolution demanding compensation for damages suffered during the World War II. Inside Germany the true Chancellor Schroeder’s Social Democrat’s Party suffered some losses in regional elections, but this defeat was expected. It came as a result of the Chancellor’s programme for economic reform. The Arab visitor to the Frankfurter Fair may encounter some demonstrations against the reforms proposed by Schroeder. One can see that a lot of East Germany is thriving.