The Federal Government's Representative for Aussiedler and National Minorities, Bundestag member Jochen Welt, used his visit in the USA to sound out politicians and representatives of Germans from Russia on possibilities for mutual projects to benefit the regions of their origin.

Circa 4 to 5 million Germans from Russia reside in the USA, Canada and South America.

They have historically provided assistance to their countrymen in the regions of their origins. As a rule, these efforts were not well coordinated, nor did they always benefit directly the German minorities.

Jochen Welt presented the representatives of Germans from Russia with a list of 600 places and centers of encounter in the former Soviet Union. To avoid duplication of efforts, the Federal Ministry of the Interior asks to be informed of any future assistance projects.

In addition, the following possibilities for assistance projects were discussed:

Providing centers for training for management of agricultural and food processing operations.

Cooperation in agricultural matters between agricultural colleges in North Dakota and German projects in the regions of origin.

Providing opportunities for German-Russians to study in high schools and universities in North Dakota.

Older people in particular appear ready to participate by means of financial contributions. How their monetary donations should best be spent will be subject of debates in the near future among representatives of Landsmannschaften [essentially, societies for countrymen, such as Germans from Russia, tr.].

Welt and his partners in these discussions agreed in general that the history of the Germans from Russia should be made accessible not only to a broader public in America, but also through inclusion into the public relations work by the German Federal Government.