Germany's diversity shows as immigrants run for parliament

Hundreds of immigrants are running in Germany's national election on Sunday, raising the possibility that its next parliament will be more diverse than ever

BERLIN -- Ana-Maria Trasnea was 13 when she emigrated from Romania because her single, working mother believed she would have a better future in Germany. Now 27, she is running for a seat in parliament.

“It was hard in Germany in the beginning,” Trasnea said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But I was ambitious and realized that this was an opportunity for me, so I decided to do whatever I can to get respect and integrate.”

Trasnea, who is running for the center-left Social Democrats in Sunday's election, is one of hundreds of candidates with immigrant roots who are seeking a seat in Germany's lower house of parliament, or Bundestag. While the number in office still doesn't reflect their overall percentage of the population, the country's growing ethnic diversity is increasingly visible in politics.

“A lot has changed in Germany in the last few decades. The population has become much more diverse,” says Julius Lagodny, a Cornell University political scientist who has researched migration and political representation in Germany. “Young immigrants are not only striving for political offices across almost all parties in Germany, they are demanding them. There's a whole new sense of assertiveness now.”