"We are on the path to GDR 2.0," declared the former head of Volkswagen

According to former Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Müller, Germany is moving toward a so-called “welfare state,” in which citizens increasingly rely on the state and take on less personal responsibility. Müller made this statement in an interview with the T-Online website.

Müller warned that Germany is on a problematic political and social trajectory. “We are a nation of egoists,” he said, reiterating his earlier warning that the country could be heading toward “GDR 2.0” [East Germany from 1949 to 1990, editor’s note].

Without fundamental reforms, he said, the German economy risks falling further behind.

He also directed criticism at the growing role of non-governmental organizations. According to Müller, in recent years the state has transferred tasks to these organizations that it should be performing itself. Some of them, he said, could be directly integrated into state ministries.

The former manager also criticized the strategy of traditional political parties toward the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. In his view, parties in the Bundestag should “to some extent open up” the so-called political “protective barrier” against the AfD. According to Müller, such a move could expose the party’s weaknesses. He believes the current strategy of isolation actually allows the AfD to “continue to develop unhindered.”

(est, welt)