Ailing east is a threat to German prosperity

'Blooming landscapes' have failed to materialise since unity

Nearly 15 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany's efforts to rebuild its formerly communist eastern half are being called a failure and a threat to the country's economy.

Since German reunification in 1990, there has been massive financial aid from the prosperous west to the poorer east. Although many western Germans have long grumbled over funding a region wracked by 40 years of socialist mismanagement, the aid was never, at least officially, challenged.

But that all changed this month, when the findings of a government-appointed commission were leaked to the media. Charged with examining the reconstruction of Germany's five eastern states, the experts, led by former Hamburg mayor Klaus von Dohnanyi, concluded that the estimated 1.25 trillion euros (HK$11.5 trillion) in aid had done little to help the economically depressed region.

As if that were not worrying enough, experts fear the 90 billion euros spent by the government each year is also slowly destroying the economy of western Germany, as growth stagnates and the east continues to siphon off vast sums of money.

'If things are allowed to continue as they are, all of Germany will be dragged down,' said Dr von Dohnanyi after the report was made public.