Word: kohl
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...critics, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl has been the perpetually shrinking statesman. Despite his formidable physical size, the Bonn leader has been derided for a political ineptitude that has time and again diminished his stature in West Germany and among Europe's leaders. Lacking the mettle of Margaret Thatcher, the imperial hauteur of Francois Mitterrand, and the wiles of his rival and coalition partner, Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Kohl has made his mark as the Continent's veteran political survivor...
Last week, however, the Chancellor blindsided detractors and heads of state from Moscow to Washington with a far-reaching plan for binding together the two Germanys. By declaring his wish for a "confederation" of his country and East Germany just days before the Malta summit, Kohl pushed to the fore the issue that nearly everyone else would like to tippy-toe around, preferably for as long as possible...
...Kohl's proposal, delivered in an uncharacteristically bold speech to the Bundestag, is predicated on the assumption that there will be free, multiparty elections in East Germany. Though the details remain nebulous, the outline provides for a massive infusion of economic aid from West Germany to follow soon after the polling. The two countries would then establish joint committees for determining what political and economic links would be established between them and how extensive the reunification ought to be. "Nobody knows how a reunified Germany will look," said Kohl. "But I am sure that unity will come...
Given the demands of all those with an interest in reunification, charting a course on the issue requires any West German leader to navigate not with a telescope but with a kaleidoscope. One of Kohl's primary targets was West German voters, and he no doubt hoped to revive his dismal political fortunes. He faces a general election in December 1990, and at the moment his Christian Democratic Party's chances are rated as questionable. Since the tumultuous events leading up to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall began last August, Kohl has been attacked relentlessly for a flat-footed...
This time Kohl got the better of it. His speech was interrupted with applause by supporters and opponents, and his party's main rival, the Social Democratic Party, at first had no choice but to endorse the speech. Later in the week, though, when the Bundestag formally approved the plan, the SPD began feeling its politics again and abstained from the voting. Kohl also seized the high ground from the far-right Republican Party, which has issued absurd calls for complete German reunification to 1937's borders, which now include parts of Poland. Kohl reassured Germans across much...