next Image 1 of 2

prev Image 2 of 2

Current and former world leaders gathered Saturday to bid farewell to former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, recalling him as a man who was instrumental in uniting Europe and bringing about reconciliation between former adversaries on the continent.

Kohl, who died June 16 at age 87, is the first person to be honored with an official memorial event by the European Union.

The ceremony at the European Parliament's seat in the French city of Strasbourg, close to the border with Germany, was the choice of Kohl himself, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said. Juncker describing Kohl as "a German patriot and at the same time a European patriot."

During his 16-year term as Germany's leader, from 1982 to 1998, Kohl spearheaded his country's reunification in 1990 and was an architect of the continent's common currency, the euro.

"Helmut Kohl gave us the chance to be involved in something bigger than ourselves," former U.S. President Bill Clinton said, citing Kohl's willingness to put international cooperation before national interests.

EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani said Kohl deserved "a place of honor in the European pantheon" for unhesitatingly extending the hand of friendship to fledgling democracies in Eastern Europe following the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Others scheduled to speak at the event are French President Emmanuel Macron and current German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Following the ceremony in Strasbourg, which was attended by over 800 guests, Kohl's coffin was to be taken to the German city of Speyer for a requiem Mass and military honors.</s>When he is laid to rest on Saturday, it might well be expected that Helmut Kohl’s role as the architect of German unification would be uppermost in people’s minds.



But instead of being remembered as an astute politician who had the foresight to realise unification before the euphoria around the collapse of communism faded, the late chancellor’s legacy is in danger of being overshadowed by the discord he appears to have sown among his family, friends and political allies.

His apparent anger and bitterness towards them is said to be behind his refusal to even allow a state funeral to take place on German soil. Many of his former colleagues and friends have not been invited. Even his driver, Eckhard “Ecki” Seeber, often described as his closest confidant, is believed to have been excluded. So too Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

His elder son has gone so far as to describe the funeral plans as “unworthy” of his father. It is unclear whether Walter Kohl or his younger brother Peter, who have been estranged from their father for years, will even attend.

Following his father’s death on 16 June, Walter appeared at his house with his children to pay their respects, but was barred from entering by a policeman in a humiliating confrontation recorded by German media. He has openly talked of his devastation that Kohl will not be buried next to his first wife, Hannelore, the sons’ mother, in the family grave in Ludwigshafen, calling the decision an insult to her memory.

A banner left by a well-wisher outside’s Kohl’s home in Oggersheim reads, “Thank you for German unity” but, noted an editorial in Die Welt, “at the family grave in his home town … his sons are mourning a family that will be forever divided”.

Kohl’s sons had wished their father’s coffin to first be taken to Berlin for an ecumenical requiem against the backdrop of the most potent symbol of German unity, the Brandenburg Gate, where ordinary Germans could bid him farewell.

Instead, there will be a ceremony at the European parliament in the French city of Strasbourg, after which his coffin will be carried by boat along the Rhine to Speyer in south-west Germany for a funeral mass in the ancient cathedral. He is to be buried in its grounds. Advisers to the family say it is not a snub to anyone, but an expression of Kohl’s love of Europe, which only deepened as death neared.

But just how much Kohl himself was behind the careful decision-making and how much was the responsibility of his second wife, Maike Kohl-Richter, remains a matter of huge speculation in Germany.

Kohl-Richter announced shortly after the 87-year-old’s death that he was to have a “European state ceremony” outside Germany. It was said to emphasise his contribution to European unity and the importance of the Franco-German bond Kohl forged with the French president, François Mitterrand.

It has also been suggested that shifting the stage to France may have been a deliberate move to overshadow or even exclude certain politicians against whom Kohl openly bore grudges. He is said to have felt an overwhelming lack of appreciation for his services to Germany, and resented disrespectful nicknames, such as “the Pear”, widely used to describe his bulkiness.

In particular, Kohl greatly resented Steinmeier, who as chief of staff to his successor Gerhard Schröder launched an investigation into whether Kohl had destroyed documents in his final days in the chancellery.

But the main focus of his wrath was Angela Merkel, whom he blamed for his fall from political grace. Kohl is credited with having discovered Merkel in the early 1990s and helped her up the ranks, famously referring to her as his “Mädchen” or “girl”. But in 1998, when he became entangled in a party funding row, she distanced herself from him and went on to supplant him as leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU).

The two never reconciled. Kohl referred to her as the “traitor general”, even accusing his successor as party leader of “destroying my Europe” over her handling of the euro crisis.

Protocol dictates that a state funeral in Berlin would have seen Merkel deliver the eulogy. Reports that Kohl-Richter wished to exclude her by shifting the ceremony to Strasbourg have not been confirmed or denied by either side.

An initial list of speakers failed to include a single German, according to Der Spiegel magazine. The Hungarian rightwing nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who idolised Kohl and was one of the few politicians to visit him in his bungalow last year, was due to speak – a position reportedly reversed after much diplomatic scrambling. Merkel will now stand alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev, former US president Bill Clinton and the European commission chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, as well as the new French president, Emmanuel Macron, all of whom will deliver tributes.

But the guest list – estimated to be about 1,000 strong – continues to be described as “delicate” by insiders.

There is also the matter of Kohl’s estate, specifically files relating to his time as chancellor and other political correspondence. In 2010 Kohl asked a political foundation associated with the CDU if he could borrow more than 400 ring binders containing correspondence from his 16 years in government so that he could write a book.

Michael Hollmann, the head of Germany’s federal archive, this week urgently called on Kohl-Richter to hand back the files so that they can be properly archived. He appealed in a letter to recognise “the significance of Helmut Kohl for German and European history” and insisted that historians should have access to the files.

Kohl’s lawyer, Stephan Holthoff-Pförtner, has responded by saying that a special trust is to be established to deal with Kohl’s estate, but he “will not discuss the question of how the trust will be constituted” before the funeral.

Commentators have stressed that the row not only concerns the memory of Helmut Kohl, but also a significant chapter in German history. Considerable gaps exist in the government archives from the Kohl era, including correspondence between the chancellor and his ministers in 1989, when German unity was on the agenda. Kohl always vehemently denied removing any documents.

Bernd Neumann, a Kohl confidant and former state secretary of culture, has described repeated uncomfortable visits to the couple in order to discuss what should happen to Kohl’s archives after his death during which, he recalled, the former chancellor was only able to nod at the suggestions made by his wife.

Kohl-Richter, an economist 34 years younger than her husband, first appeared at his side in public in 2005 at his 75th birthday celebrations in Berlin. Four years earlier, his first wife, Hannelore, had taken her own life.

Shortly after the couple’s relationship became public, contact between Kohl and his sons broke down. One by one, those who had been close to Kohl – including his longstanding office manager, Juliane Weber, and erstwhile friends and ministers in his cabinet Norbert Blüm and Heiner Geissler – were told they were no longer welcome to visit. Seeber, his driver over decades, has described the humiliation of being asked to hand over the keys both to the official car and to Kohl’s house and told that his services were no longer wanted.

The couple married in a convalescent home three months after Kohl suffered a near-fatal fall in 2008. His sons were not invited.

Both a special session in the Bundestag and a mass in Berlin’s Catholic cathedral have offered candid insights into the considerable tensions ahead of this weekend’s funeral. Norbert Lammert, the parliamentary speaker, praised Kohl’s achievements, but added: “Kohl’s path was lined with injuries – both those he suffered and those he inflicted on others.”

At St Hedwig’s Cathedral, at a ceremony attended by the political elite, including Merkel, Prelate Karl Jüsten made a particular point of addressing “the many who had a difficult relationship with him”, and stated: “May God reconcile us to him, if we did not find reconciliation with him in life.”</s>“Since the U.S. announced that it would exit the Paris agreement, we cannot expect any easy talks in Hamburg,” Merkel said, referring to the Group of 20 summit scheduled for July 7-8. “The dissent is obvious and it would be dishonest to cover it up.”

Despite the withdrawal of the United States, the world’s second-largest polluter, the EU remains committed to the Paris climate accord, she said. But she was blunt about the obstacles posed by American retreat from the deal, which was signed by 195 nations in an attempt to forge global consensus around limiting greenhouse gases.

BERLIN—In forceful remarks before Germany’s Parliament on Thursday, Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to defend the international climate agreement spurned by the Trump administration, anticipating a difficult meeting of the leaders of the world’s major economies next week in Hamburg.

She said talks in Hamburg must “serve the substance and aims of the Paris accord” and insisted that she would not countenance calls to revise the agreement. She deemed the pact “irreversible.”

Without naming him, Merkel appeared to lament U.S. President Donald Trump’s uncertainty about human-induced climate change, saying, “We can’t, and we won’t, wait until the last person on Earth is convinced of the scientific evidence for climate change.”

Her pledge echoed a rare joint statement from Germany, France and Italy rebuking Trump’s call to revise the agreement, which he said would have paralyzed American businesses and prevented the U.S. “from conducting its own domestic affairs.”

A chasm separates Merkel and Trump — and not just on climate — as they head into the conference in the northern German port city of Hamburg. The German leader has said she also intends to make free trade and the shared burdens of managing the global refugee crisis focal points of discussions. These principles stand in uneasy relationship with the doctrine of “America first” that guides Trump’s foreign policy.

One of her goals, Merkel said, would be “to send a clear signal for free markets and against isolationism,” adding: “Whoever believes that the world’s problems can be solved by isolationism and protectionism is making an enormous error.”

Merkel, who heads Europe’s most powerful economy, was preparing for the annual summit by hosting European heads of state in Berlin. In her speech Thursday morning, she reviewed the results of the European Council meeting last week in Brussels, where leaders began the protracted process of cutting Britain loose from the EU.

But she looked past that undertaking to affirm the strength of the European bloc — the longevity of which has been tested over the past year — and other multilateral institutions. The long-serving German chancellor was adamant that the business of strengthening the continent would not be bogged down by negotiations over the terms of the British exit.

Especially important, she said, were avenues opened up by Franco-German co-operation, including new ideas to stabilize the euro zone. Merkel has said she is receptive to some of the ideas offered by French President Emmanuel Macron, such as installing a single finance minister and common budget for the euro zone.

Elmar Brok, a member of the European Parliament and a close ally of Merkel’s, said working with France is critical to each of her European objectives — from reform of the economic union to greater co-operation in security and defence.

Trump’s election and the decision of British voters to leave the EU were repudiations of Merkel’s vision of a liberal, integrated West. But they may end up giving new impetus to her longer-term European aims, Brok said.

“She has a great chance right now,” said Brok, a member of the European Parliament’s committee on foreign affairs and its former chairperson. “There is a new European consciousness that we have to be stronger.”

At the same time, these efforts must be coupled with a sustained commitment to a close partnership with the United States, said Jurgen Hardt, foreign policy spokesperson for Merkel’s ruling coalition in Parliament.

Hardt said Merkel’s speech was not a rejection of Trump’s government but a rebuttal of his idea that the American people are best served by an inward-looking policy.

“It’s not a fight against the U.S. but a fight for common values,” he said, noting that Germany still depends on the United States to buy its exports and defend it militarily. “We want a trustful partner in the U.S. on security but also on trade and economic issues — to the benefit of U.S. citizens and European citizens.”</s>World leaders have gathered to pay tribute to the “architect of the world order” Helmut Kohl at the first ever memorial of its kind for a European politician.

Draped in an EU flag, the former German Chancellor’s coffin sat in the centre of the European Parliament as more than 800 dignitaries including Bill Clinton, Dmitry Medvedev and Angela Merkel paid emotional tributes.

“Helmut Kohl gave us the chance to be involved in something bigger than ourselves, bigger than our terms in office and bigger than our fleeting careers,” Mr Clinton said, fondly remembering their frequent visits to each other during his time as US President.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

“He wanted to create a world where nobody dominated over anybody else.

“You did well to achieve that during your lifetime and those of us who experienced it love you for it.”

Mr Kohl, who served as Chancellor from 1982 to 1998, oversaw the end of the Cold War and is widely regarded as the mastermind of German reunification.

He skillfully negotiated the dissolution communist East Germany with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and relocated the capital to Berlin.

Together with French counterpart Francois Mitterand, he was the architect of the 1992 Maastrict Treaty, which established the euro and EU, which he ardently supported.

Medvedev, the Russian Prime Minister, described Mr Kohl as the “the architect of the world order”, adding: “In Russia, we'll remember him as our friend – a wise and sincere person.”

“Helmut Kohl was a German patriot and a European patriot,” said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, a close friend. “We've lost a giant of the post-war era.”

Ms Merkel, who served as a minister under Mr Kohl in the 1990s but later had a falling out over his role in receiving $1 million in illegal campaign cash donations, remembered her predecessor as a sometimes controversial figure with numerous enemies.

Independent news email Only the best news in your inbox Independent news email Only the best news in your inbox Enter your email address Continue Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid Email already exists. Log in to update your newsletter preferences Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email Update newsletter preferences

“I could tell you stories as well,” she said. “But all that paled in comparison to his life's achievements.”

Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, said Mr Kohl deserved “a place of honour in the European pantheon” for unhesitatingly extending the hand of friendship to fledgling democracies in Eastern Europe following the fall of the Iron Curtain.

The two-hour ceremony was attended by leaders including Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron, Donald Tusk and Petro Poroshenko, in a show of unity amid continuing divisions over Brexit and the Ukrainian war.

It concluded with the German national anthem and excerpts from Beethoven's 9th symphony “Ode to Joy”, which is used as the EU anthem.

Mr Kohl, who died on 16 June at the age of 87, was to be buried at a funeral in Germany later on Saturday.

His coffin had been transported from the home he shared with his second wife Maike in Oggersheim to Strasbourg for the memorial service.

It was taken by helicopter on to his birthplace in Ludwigshafen, being carried in a procession and then transported to Speyer Cathedral along the Rhine for a Catholic requiem to be attended by 1,500 mourners.

The resting place of many rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, the cathedral was seen by Mr Kohl as a symbol of European unity – a place he showed to contemporary leaders including Mr Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher.

But the mass will be boycotted by Mr Kohl’s sons, since their father will not be laid to rest alongside his first wife and their mother, Hannelore Kohl.

Additional reporting by agencies</s>Emmanuel Macron, Angella Merkel and Bill Clinton take their seat's for Helmut Kohl's memorial

Current chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and former US president BIll Clinton were among the mourners paying their respects to the late statesman.

Theresa May and former Prime Minister John Major, who worked with Mr Kohl, are also in attendance.

Dignitaries filed past Mr Kohl's coffin, which has been draped in the European Union flag, before it was carried into the parliamentary chamber.

He will be buried in the town of Speyer later today.

It is the first time the European Union has held this kind of memorial service for a former world leader.</s>World leaders are attending a ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to commemorate the life of Helmut Kohl, the former chancellor of Germany and the main architect of its reunification.

Kohl, who died on June 16 aged 87, is the first person to be honored with an official memorial event by the European Union.

Dignitaries have been paying respects at his coffin, which was draped in the EU flag.

During his 16-year term as Germany's leader, from 1982 to 1998, Kohl was a major driving force behind closer European integration.

"Helmut Kohl was a true European and a friend. Europe owes him a lot," said European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, the only current leader in Europe to have worked alongside him.

Junker said the ceremony at the European Parliament's seat in the French city of Strasbourg, close to the border with Germany, was the choice of Kohl himself.

Speakers at the ceremony include the current German and French leaders Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, respectively, as well as Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and former Spanish President Felipe González.

Kohl will be buried in the German town of Speyer later in the day.

Based on reporting by AP, dpa, AFP, and the BBC</s>The EU will pay an unprecedented tribute Saturday to former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, one of the architects of modern Europe, in a ceremony attended by a host of leaders.

Kohl, who oversaw German reunification and was a driving force in Europe's integration, died on June 16 at age of 87.

Ceremonies at the European Parliament begin a day of commemoration and mourning, culminating in his burial in the German town of Speyer.

At his widow's request, there will be no state funeral in Germany.

The former chancellor's coffin will be brought to the parliament chamber in the French city of Strasbourg where his successor, Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and former US president Bill Clinton will give speeches.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will represent Russia at the ceremony, which will also be attended by British Prime Minister Theresa May and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The speeches and a short film to be played to the chamber will focus on Kohl's role in German unification after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and on his close cooperation with France's Francois Mitterrand in shaping the European Union.

It is the first time that the European Parliament has paid tribute to a leader in such a way.

The idea for a ceremony was proposed by European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, whom Kohl affectionately called "junior" when the Luxemburger became prime minister at the age of 41.

On Kohl's death, Juncker described him as "my mentor, my friend (and) the very essence of Europe".

The parliament building in the city on the Franco-German border will be ringed by steel. More than 2,000 police will be on duty to protect the visiting dignitaries.

After the ceremony in Strasbourg, Kohl's coffin will be taken by helicopter to the German city of Ludwigshafen where it will be transferred to a boat and taken down the Rhine to the southwest town of Speyer for his funeral service.

The arrangements have been clouded by criticism from Kohl's elder son. In an interview with Die Zeit weekly he called the plans "unworthy" of his father's role in Germany's history.

Walter Kohl, whose mother was the late chancellor's first wife Hannelore Kohl, criticised the lack of a state funeral, which was refused by Kohl's second wife Maike Kohl-Richter.

Kohl married Kohl-Richter, 34 years her husband's junior, when he was 78.

One of the reasons for her refusal was lingering anger at Merkel's treatment of her former mentor.

Merkel ousted Kohl from the leadership of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and urged the party to drop him when he became embroiled in a party funding scandal.

Walter Kohl wants his father's coffin to be taken to the German capital for "a national homage, an ecumenical requiem and a military farewell ceremony" near the Brandenburg Gate, where the German leader witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Because of a long-running feud with his stepmother, who jealously guards her husband's political legacy, Walter Kohl had not had contact with his father for many years and said he learned of his death from a radio report.

He says he will not take part in the burial in Speyer.</s>Leaders from the United States, Russia and across Europe paid tribute to Helmut Kohl as the architect of German reunification and a driving force for European integration at first such memorial ceremony at European parliament on Saturday.

Germany, France and U.K.’s leaders Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May were joined by their Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netnayahu, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and many others.

Also attending the ceremony was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Less than a week after Helmut Kohl’s death, Der Spiegel reported that Kohl’s second wife, Maike Kohl-Richter, had tried to prevent Merkel, his one-time protege, from speaking at his memorial service and instead proposed Orban, a vocal critic of Merkel.

The young, liberal Orban was mentored by Kohl in the early years after the 1989 collapse of East European Communism, although as prime minister of Hungary he has steered an anti-EU, authoritarian course that many say is at odds with Kohl’s legacy.

However the German Chancellor did give a speech later during the ceremony.</s>It is the first time such a memorial for a national leader is being held at the European level. Among the speakers are EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, former US President Bill Clinton, French President Emmanuel Macron and current German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (Photo: Reuters) It is the first time such a memorial for a national leader is being held at the European level. Among the speakers are EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, former US President Bill Clinton, French President Emmanuel Macron and current German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (Photo: Reuters)

Current and former leaders from Europe and beyond are gathering in Strasbourg, France to bid farewell to former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who died June 16 at 87. The ceremony today at the European Parliament’s seat in Strasbourg, close to the border with Germany, was deemed fitting for a chancellor whose biggest achievements included helping unite Europe.

It is the first time such a memorial for a national leader is being held at the European level. Among the speakers are EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, former US President Bill Clinton, French President Emmanuel Macron and current German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Juncker described Kohl as “a German patriot and at the same time a European patriot.” Kohl will be buried later today following a mass in the German city of Speyer.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>World leaders are attending a ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to commemorate the life of former German chancellor Helmut Kohl - who oversaw German reunification.

Mr Kohl, who died last month, was a major driving force behind closer European integration.

Dignitaries have been paying respects at his coffin, which has been draped in the EU flag.

He will be buried in the German town of Speyer later in the day.

More than 2,000 police are on duty in Strasbourg.

Speakers include the current German and French leaders Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron as well as Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, former US president Bill Clinton and former Spanish president Felipe González.

It is the first time that the European Parliament has paid tribute to a leader in such a way.

The ceremony was proposed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who was nicknamed "Junior" by Mr Kohl and who described the German after his death as "my mentor, my friend (and) the very essence of Europe".

However Germany will not hold a state funeral for Mr Kohl in Germany at the request of his widow Maike Kohl-Richter, his second wife.

That decision has been criticised by Mr Kohl's son by his first wife, Walter Kohl, who wanted a farewell ceremony near the Brandenburg Gate in the German capital Berlin, near the site of the former Berlin Wall.

Walter Kohl has described the European Parliament commemoration as "unworthy" in an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit.
World leaders such as Bill Clinton, Emmanuel Macron, Theresa May, Dmitry Medvedev and Angela Merkel attend the memorial service for the former West German leader Helmut Kohl.