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German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Otherwise, Steinbach told the Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ) daily, the federation would nominate her to the body's board -- a move likely to antagonise Germany's neighbours Poland and the Czech Republic.
Steinbach, whose nomination is also opposed by Germany's foreign minister, has attracted a bitter controversy for refusing to accept the German-Polish border after German reunification in 1990.
She also called for the body, known as the Foundation for Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation, to comprise more representatives of those expelled than the current three.
The decision to create the museum by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government followed decades of agonised debate over how to remember the 15 million ethnic Germans forced to flee to Germany from areas now in countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary which were occupied during World War II.
Many of these ethnic Germans had roots in central and eastern Europe going back centuries, and tens of thousands died as they fled in 1945.
The centre aims to focus on expulsion in general -- not just the expulsion of Germans -- in order to counter accusations that it had put Germans' suffering on a par with that of victims of the Nazis.
Merkel's government has until the end of January to agree to the proposals and choose "the sensible path" and "put an end to this undignified discussion," Steinbach said.
"By the end of January we will know what is doable and what is not doable. So if it is clear that (the proposals) are unwelcome, we will go ahead with the nomination," she threatened.
Making the changes would "have the advantage of ensuring that (German) government would never have to feel blackmailed again from one neighbour or other," she added in a clear reference to opposition to her in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, head of Merkel's new coalition partners since September elections, the Free Democrats (FDP), said he was "open to all new proposals."
The FAZ said in an editorial however that the FDP would be unlikely to agree.
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Steinbach, whose nomination is also opposed by Germany's foreign minister, has attracted a bitter controversy for refusing to accept the German-Polish border after German reunification in 1990.
She also called for the body, known as the Foundation for Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation, to comprise more representatives of those expelled than the current three.
The decision to create the museum by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government followed decades of agonised debate over how to remember the 15 million ethnic Germans forced to flee to Germany from areas now in countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary which were occupied during World War II.
Many of these ethnic Germans had roots in central and eastern Europe going back centuries, and tens of thousands died as they fled in 1945.
The centre aims to focus on expulsion in general -- not just the expulsion of Germans -- in order to counter accusations that it had put Germans' suffering on a par with that of victims of the Nazis.
Merkel's government has until the end of January to agree to the proposals and choose "the sensible path" and "put an end to this undignified discussion," Steinbach said.
"By the end of January we will know what is doable and what is not doable. So if it is clear that (the proposals) are unwelcome, we will go ahead with the nomination," she threatened.
Making the changes would "have the advantage of ensuring that (German) government would never have to feel blackmailed again from one neighbour or other," she added in a clear reference to opposition to her in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, head of Merkel's new coalition partners since September elections, the Free Democrats (FDP), said he was "open to all new proposals."
The FAZ said in an editorial however that the FDP would be unlikely to agree.
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