On German Unity Day, Steinmeier laments 'bitter setbacks'

Germany's president has used his final Unity Day speech to warn the hopes of the reunification era have suffered "bitter setbacks." DW has the latest.

• Germany's leaders have gathered in the northern city of Bremen for official festivities marking Unity Day 
• German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that Germany's democracy is being challenged again, pointing to the threat from right-wing extremism
• In his final Unity Day speech as president, Steinmeier said some of the hopes surrounding reunification have not been fulfilled
• The national holiday commemorates October 3, 1990, when the former East Germany joined the Federal Republic of Germany
• Eastern Germany commissioner Elisabeth Kaiser says the country's next president should come from the east, and be a woman
• She says eastern Germans remain underrepresented in positions of power more than three decades after reunification

Here is a roundup of top stories from and about Germany on Saturday, October 3, 2026:

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