BERLIN, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Monday that the German federal election exposed that invisible walls are dividing German society, calling on lawmakers to fight against return to nationalism.
"On September 24, it became clear that other walls have arisen, less visible, without barbed wire and death-strips, but walls that stand in the way of our common sense of 'us'," Steinmeier said in Mainz at a celebration for the 27th anniversary of Germany's reunification in 1990.
Steinmeier said that behind these walls, a deep distrust in democracy and its representatives is being fomented. He also called for a national discussion on migration.
"In my view, this means not simply wishing away migration but ... defining legal admission to Germany, which regulates and controls migration by our stipulations," Steinmeier noted.
Although German Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU/CSU conservative alliance maintained its leading position in German federal parliament, the federal election on Sept. 24 saw the rise of the Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD), which became the third strongest party in Germany and entered the parliament as the first far-right populist party after WWII.
Steinmeier said invisible walls stand between city and country, online and offline, poor and rich, old and young, and people hardly understand anything of each other behind walls.
The German president urged lawmakers to show that "democrats have better solutions than those who abuse democracy", and to never allow a return to nationalism. He said Germany needed a sense of "homeland" with a common, democratic, way forward.
Merkel said at the ceremony that the reunification anniversary was a "day of joy" for the country.
"We know we cannot disconnect from what's going on in the world. Rather, we must take care that globalization is constructed humanely," she said.
The city of Mainz on Tuesday was the host of the main celebrations for the 27th anniversary of German reunification. Around 500,000 guests were expected to take part in the festival.
Under the motto "Together we are Germany", each of Germany's 16 states were on display at a festival in Mainz.
