Not too late for Europe, says Kohl
November 3, 2014
The 84-year-old Kohl said during his book's presentation in Frankfurt on Monday that it was still "not too late for Europe" but warned that crisis between Russia and the West over Ukraine risked wasting much of what "we had achieved."
"We need once again more European public spirit, " Kohl said.
Literally translated as "out of concern for Europe," the German-language book retraces the quest for peace after two world wars in 20th century Europe.
Kohl reasserts his belief in the common currency and describes how the euro came about during his tenure up to 1998.
His book blames the euro's later misfortunes on tactical electoral mistakes, including the bending of fiscal rules by EU finance ministers in 2003 and Greece's entry into the eurozone sought by later French and German governments.
His rival and successor Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder led center-left coalitions from 1998 until 2005.
'Great European,' says Juncker
Delivering a laudation at Monday's presentation, the European Commission's new president, Jean-Claude Juncker, described Kohl as a "great European."
It was a "happy coincidence" that he could spend his first working day in his new role with Kohl, added Juncker, who was previously Luxembourg's premier and euro expert.
Kohl had always respected Europe's smaller countries and had always rejected resentments directed at other nations, Juncker said.
"To know what the other person thinks belongs to his methodological approach," Juncker said.
Kohl is currently pursuing legal action against a separate book based on interviews by his intended ghost-writer Heribert Schwan. In it, Kohl belittles his former environment minister and current Chancellor Angela Merkel .
That book was published last week, ahead of a series of anniversary events to mark a quarter-century since the 1989 collapse of communist East Germany.
Kohl, who is often dubbed the father of German reunification, claims that weakness of the former Soviet Union, realized by its then leader Mikhail Gorbachev, contributed to the demise of the East German regime under Erich Honecker.
ipj/kms (AFP, dpa)