"Cancer is not the same as cancer," said Manuela Schwesig in a press conference during which she informed about her cancer. The good news for her is that her cancer is curable.
In addition, the medical treatment can be carried out mainly on an outpatient basis. But she could not take all appointments. "That's why I asked my ministers to represent me on these days, and they have all given me their support, which I am very grateful for," she said. She was "very confident" to be able to recover. Therefore, she decided to continue to fill the post of Prime Minister. She is responsible for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Schwesig reminded that many women in Germany suffer from breast cancer each year. Many women showed that this terrible disease was curable and that one could fight against it. "I have had some struggles in my life and I will fight this as well," said Schwesig. She thanks for the great sympathy. "I'm very confident that I can handle this difficult situation," she said.
Schwesig had worked its way through the first ten years of German politics in the past ten years. After only four years as a city representative in Schwerin she became in 2008 - just 34 years old - Social Affairs Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and 2013 then Federal Minister of the Family. After only six years of party affiliation, she had become the party's hopefuls in the East German SPD in 2009.
In the summer of 2017, she gave up her ministry in Berlin prematurely and took over from the then cancer-affected Erwin Sellering (SPD) at his request, the Prime Minister's Office. However, Schwesig also remained active in the federal government in her new function, appearing primarily as an advocate for the interests of the East Germans.