German Unity Report Draws Criticizm

The German government's annual report on the state of German unity has been criticized by leading eastern German politicians and economists on the grounds that it paints an over-optimistic picture of economic growth in eastern Germany. Arnold Vaatz from the CDU told the Freie Presse newspaper it was too early to speak of improvements in eastern Germany and accused transport minister Manfred Stolpe of glossing over problems in his report. Peter Hettlich from the Greens, meanwhile, pointed out that there was still too little supervision of how reconstruction funds are spent. "People in eastern Germany know that many regions are depressed," said Joachim Ragnitz, from the Institute for Economic Research in Halle. "It would have been better to write a factual report which would help build up greater trust."