New German President Calls for More European Solidarity

Germany on Friday swore in new president Joachim Gauck, who warned the government that it had a historical obligation to help Europe's weakest members as they struggle to stay afloat.

Gauck, the first head of state from the former communist east, delivered the impassioned appeal for more European "solidarity" to MPs and Chancellor Angela Merkel in the light-flooded chamber of the Reichstag parliament building.

"We must keep saying yes to Europe," he said. "Particularly in times of crisis, we must dare to have more Europe."

Gauck, 72, said that languishing under the Nazi and then the communist dictatorships had made the notion of a united Europe living in peace and prosperity a dream that drove his political awakening.

"Europe was the promised land for my generation," he said.

"For my grandchildren, Europe has long been part of their day-to-day reality, with freedom across borders and the opportunities and concerns of an open society. This reality is an achievement, not only for my grandchildren."

Germany, as the rescue-fund paymaster for Europe's stricken member states, has come under pressure throughout the sovereign debt crisis to boost its contributions to the bailouts in the face of Merkel's resistance.

The turmoil has also exposed old rifts, with protesters on the streets of Athens branding Merkel a "Nazi" for her hardline stance.

Gauck, a Lutheran pastor and former East German democracy activist, said he would make the integration of Germany's large immigrant population and the struggle against the far right priorities of his presidency.

In a rousing passage of the 23-minute inaugural speech, Gauck said Germany would stand united in the fight against extremists.

"Your hatred will only spur us on," he thundered.

Germany was shocked to learn last November that a group of neo-Nazi militants was likely behind the serial killings of 10 people -- mostly shopkeepers of Turkish origin -- over a seven-year period.

The murder spree has sparked a new drive to ban the anti-immigrant National Democratic Party of Germany, which had ties to the suspected killers.

Gauck will make his first trip abroad as president to Poland next week.