Liebe Mitbürgerinnen und Mitbürger english

Angela Merkel:

New Year Speech 2006

(see German original version)

Dear fellow citizens,

what is it that can be achieved within one year?
It is a whole lot! How about us setting the goal tonight to achieve even a little more everywhere in the upcoming year than we have achieved up to now?

Talk is cheap, some of you might say. She is doing well and has done a good deal of what she wanted to do in this past year.
But I? How shall I go on after I lost my job? When will I finally find an apprenticeship? How can we avoid going bust with our company? What will happen to me and my family?

I understand these questions. I know that very much is already being demanded from many.

Yet I dare again: I simply want to encourage all of us to find out what is in ourselves! I am convinced we will be surprised!

You have had an idea for a long time? It needn't be anything outstanding, but shouldn't 2006 be the year for you to make your idea come true? Let's simply start!
Each journey starts with a first step. You will see how much gratification is in proceeding step by step.

Each one of us can do that – at home, within the family, with children, in school, in our jobs, with sick or disabled persons, with people of foreign origin, in NGOs, parent-help groups, citizen's initiatives, churches and many more.

And also in politics.

That's the way the new federal government went to work. Set unreachable goals? Not our thing. Make unkeepable promises? You have had enough of that. Take many small steps, but into the right direction. Thus we have started. And we firmly keep to one aim: to lead our nation to the top of Europe within 10 years, because each one of us will profit thereof personally.

We went to work on strengthening the employment agencies, to stabilize public finances, create tax advantages for work done around private households, improve investment conditions for business, forward new technologies stronger than in the past.
Our country will only be able to compete with other countries through new ideas. This is why the government of the great coalition, given the extremely difficult household situation, will skimp on everything – except on research, development, education and training.

We as a nation will be given a great chance in this coming year! The world will look at Germany as it did 16 years ago during the fall of the wall. Of course these things are not comparable in their relevance, but still: in the end billions of people will watch the soccer world cup games on TV, and millions of people will come to visit us.

Of course we will hold thumbs for our team, and I believe the chances really aren't bad. Our women's national soccer team has already won the world championship, and I see no reason why men shouldn't be able to achieve the same as women.

In my eyes one winner of the World Soccer Games is already certain today: that is us, the people in this country, because we have a party with the whole world.

This world championship has a beautiful motto, so I think: The world at home with friends.
Become a friend! Let's all together become friends with our guests.

This is my greatest wish for the new year: that Germany will continue to live in peace and friendship with its neighbors and partners. Europe has great expectations in our country. Without an economically and socially strong Germany Europe will not get ahead. And without a strong Europe Germany will be weak as well. We ordered our finances at the last European Union summit. But since Europe as a whole must become more capable of acting, since we have to be aware of our common values, we should – after a thinking pause in the European constitutional process – get to substantial results soon.

Outside of Europe there are great expectations in our country as well – at the negotiations about free world trade, at the foreign deployment of German soldiers and police forces or at the reformation of the United Nations.

Great nature desasters make us think of others, too. Thank you all very much for your great willingness to donate to the tsunami victims! Please think also of the silent tsunamis, meaning the often forgotten miseries – for instance through famine in Africa, the victims of the devastating earthquake in Pakistan or the tragedies in some regions of our planet caused by wars, civil wars, migration and diseases. Let's not forget them, let's open our hearts for them as we do for people living in misery here in our country.

Dear fellow citizens, you see that we can achieve so much together! Each of us can play a part! And if we want to get a hold on our problems here at home in the future, especially and also the number one problem, which is without doubt the tremendously high unemployment rate – then we have to do even more than we have done so far.
That is exactly my team's plan.

We will do all we can to support you on that path, but that also means to overcome old fashioned rituals in politics and institutions. And we should remember a simple wisdom, it says:
Work needs growth, and growth needs freedom.

That is why we cut down bureaucracy, install a competitive taxation of enterprise, reform federal and stately structures. And we work on a true reformation of health and long term care insurance coming next year, a convincing idea at that point, too, and it will be realized.

Dear fellow citizens, I want you to be able to realize your ideas for yourself and your families. Germany is the country of ideas. But in order to live from our ideas we have to put them to action. Let's surprise ourselves with what is possible!

Let's simply start – tomorrow morning.

But for tonight let's celebrate or get together with the people who need our help, a loving word or who in turn give us encouragement and consolation.

I wish you a good, fulfilled and blessed new year 2006!

(Translation from German: Mathias Wittekopf)

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