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FDP

CDU wants to redouble efforts in eastern Germany

Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) wants to step up its efforts to overhaul the former communist half of the country.

As a sign of the party’s commitment to the still economically depressed region, the CDU is holding its regular leadership meeting on Monday in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. The CDU’s goal is to make the former East Germany “one of the most competitive and innovative regions in Europe” within the next ten years.

Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit the region’s well-known boarding school in Pforta on Monday together with Saxony-Anhalt’s premier Wolfgang Böhmer to stress the CDU’s commitment to excellence.

Other parties are also tinkering with their polices for the eastern part of Germany. The Free Democrats will make a statement in Berlin on Monday and the Social Democrats have called for changes to be made to eastern salaries and pensions.