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Federal Minister Giffey: Supports state politics
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Christoph Soeder / picture alliance / dpa
"The East Germans have every reason to be proud of what they have achieved and the positive development," said Franziska Giffey (SPD) on Sunday, according to the organizers at the start of the East German Economic Forum in Bad Saarow, Brandenburg.
"The inequalities that still exist must decrease, or at best disappear completely," added the Federal Minister for Family Affairs and advocated filling more important offices in Germany with people from the East or creating relevant positions in the East German states.
This includes, according to Giffey, "to work actively against the structural weakness in the East and the underrepresentation of East German life experience in important offices."
Differences in wages, assets or the filling of management positions did not change by themselves.
Giffey named the German Foundation for Commitment and Volunteering in Neustrelitz, the German-Greek Youth Office in Leipzig, the training center of the Technical Relief Organization in Brandenburg / Havel and the model project "Smart City Cottbus" as examples of the establishment of new federal institutions.
The city in Lusatia is one of 13 projects supported by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the KfW development bank in digitization.
Franziska Giffey recently announced that she wanted to withdraw from federal politics in order to work in state politics.
At the end of October, the 42-year-old wants to be elected as the new co-head of the Berlin SPD.
From 2015 to 2018, Giffey was district mayor in the Berlin district of Neukölln, she comes from Frankfurt an der Oder.
At the East German Economic Forum, politicians, entrepreneurs and scientists want to discuss the consequences of the corona crisis and the prospects for East Germany as a business location until Tuesday.
Vice Chancellor and Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD), Federal Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) and the East German Prime Minister and ex-Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz are among the guests in Bad Saarow.
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