It is seldom that leaders live long enough to witness their own induction into the annals of history. But that was the rare honor reserved for former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl this week. He took his first step into the historical sunset on Tuesday, when he visited the conservative parliamentary group in Berlin for the first time in a decade.
There, Kohl took the opportunity to encourage his center-right successors not to abandon faith in Europe and to continue fighting for the common currency. "We must preserve Europe and continue to strengthen it," he told lawmakers from his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), according to meeting participants. "Conservatives must fight for Europe," he said. Participants also said that Kohl urged Germany to have more patience with Greece as it struggles to remain in the euro zone.
Tuesday's visit to the capital was a rare outing for the 82-year-old Kohl. The former chancellor has been in fragile health since taking a serious fall in his home in 2008, and his public appearances have been limited. Furthermore, his speech, always heavily accented, has become even more difficult to understand with age.
This week marks the 30th anniversary of Kohl's first election to the chancellery, in 1982. Widely revered as the father of German reunification and as a primary mover behind the introduction of the European common currency, he will be center stage again on Thursday, when he will appear at the German History Museum in Berlin for the unveiling of a new stamp in his honor. » | cgh -- with reporting by Philipp Wittrock | Wednesday, September 26, 2012
