# Is Germany's pension reform reopening the East-West divide?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/dw-berlin-briefing-inside-german-politics-7077761/is-germany-s-pension-reform-reopening-the-east-west-divide
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/dw-berlin-briefing-inside-german-politics-7077761/is-germany-s-pension-reform-reopening-the-east-west-divide.md
Podcast: [DW Berlin Briefing - Inside German politics](https://stenobird.com/podcast/dw-berlin-briefing-inside-german-politics-7077761)
Published: 2026-08-06T11:40:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.dw.com/en/is-germany-s-pension-reform-reopening-the-east-west-divide/audio-78261640?maca=en-podcast_Berlin_Briefing-42113-xml-mrss
Audio file: https://radiodownloaddw-a.akamaihd.net/Events/podcasts/en/42113_podcast_Berlin_Briefing/0A425563_2-podcast-42113-78261640.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1994

## Resource

A landmark pension reform is triggering backlash from eastern Germany and exposing deep divisions within Chancellor Friedrich Merz's party. Why is Germany's pension system under pressure? Why the resistance? And could this become a serious threat to the government itself? In this episode of Berlin Briefing, Max Hofmann and Michaela Küfner speak with leading economist Veronika Grimm to find out.

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## Transcript

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