"Unfaithful partner, faulty policies". In an interview with German bimonthly, 'Internationale Politik', the former German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, expresses some regrets at the lack of predictability in the policies (internal and external) of Angela Merkel.
The “clear road” to reunification and European integration followed by the former Chancellor is losing its signposts. Today we are “in danger of losing it all”, Kohl warns. We must regain the ‘predictability’ (“Berechenbarkeit”) of old – the very fundament of the German Federal Republic. Transatlantic relations, a unified Europe and Franco-German friendship are “the basic pillars. If we break loose from this anchor, the consequences would be catastrophic.”
The former head of government has been witness to a “frightening lack of courage...The great transformations in the world of today are no excuse for the lack of vision and ideas about the camp that one belongs to, and the direction we want to take”, he declares, in an oblique criticism of his successor and former protégé, Angela Merkel. To fill a leadership role in Europe takes passion and toughness: “If you don’t have it, you’re in the wrong job.”
“On my watch, Germany would not have violated the stability criteria of the euro. These mistakes have been made. But the good news is that they can be fixed. However, we must not act as if it were solely a matter of money. Europe in crisis needs a package of preventive measures, free of ideology, that will help get the euro back on the right path and ensure its future.”
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