BERLIN -- Helmut Kohl, the former German chancellor who oversaw the peaceful reunification of his country and the introduction of the euro during the 1990s, made an impassioned plea to his fellow Germans this week not to give up on the venture of European integration that has brought stability and prosperity to large parts of the Continent. Mr....
BERLIN -- Two thoughts about Angela Merkel's weekend of political debacle: Her government's shifts and pivots in an effort to avoid defeat in a regional election override in importance the loss itself. And they leave Germany's governing coalition with a fracture in credibility affecting the country's international role and notions of its leadership...
BERLIN -- Summer vacation can't come soon enough for Chancellor Angela Merkel. It will end a miserable semester of electoral setbacks, sagging poll ratings and political squabbles. But she can still take heart: After her biggest challenger, Christian Wulff, was sworn in as president last week, Mrs. Merkel has deflected any threat to her leadership....
Dr. Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (født 3. april 1930) er en tysk politiker og statsmand, der var tysk kansler fra 1982 til 1998.
Som ung deltog Kohl i den sidste fase af 2. verdenskrig. Han meldte sig ind i det kristent-demokratiske parti, CDU, i 1947. Han blev dr.phil. i historie. Fra 1969 til 1976 var han ministerpræsident i delstaten Rheinland-Pfalz. Derefter blev han medlem af den tyske forbundsdag (Bundestag), hvor han blev leder af CDUs gruppe.
Den 1. oktober 1982 efterfulgte han Helmut Schmidt som tysk kansler efter en mistillidsafstemning, der gik imod Schmidt. Han var kansler, indtil Gerhard Schröder og SPD vandt en jordskredssejr den 27. oktober 1998. Dermed er han den længst siddende kansler siden Otto von Bismarck. Kohls største succes som politiker var at være med til at samle det delte Tyskland den 3. oktober 1990. Fold ud