Helmut Kohl

Two cheers for Helmut Kohl!The German chancellor's poll numbers are down again. The knives are out for him in his own party again. Germans of taste and sophistication confess their embarrassment that this bloviating windbag with a funny accent is the world's most visible German, successor to the great Konrad Adenauer, Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt. When Mr. Kohl came to Washington last weekend to meet with President Clinton, the news reports all noted that the chancellor is "in trouble" at home.

GERMANY IS FACING the worst political scandal in its postwar history. Leaders of the party which governed the country until just fifteen months ago, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), have admitted to illegally concealing contributions from secret donors. Auditors have been unable to trace about twelve million marks in such donations received since 1989. Initiator of this party financing scandal is none other than one of Germany's political heroes, former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. State prosecutors early this month opened an investigation after Mr. Kohl confessed publicly that he broke the law by keeping up to two million marks in clandestine donations.

HELMUT KOHL's dream of breaking Otto von Bismarck's record as the longest-serving German chancellor may remain a dream, unless he can beat Gerhard Schroeder in September."

HELMUT Kohl was one of the great statesmen of the second half of the 20th century. He unified Germany when others thought it impossible or undesirable. He was the chief architect of European monetary and economic union. His stage-German bumpkin manner hides a fine mind. His preoccupation with nuts-and-bolts politics covered a far-sighted vision that was clearer and more purposeful than his adversaries'. That makes the Bonn prosecutors' decision to investigate the $1 million political slush fund that Mr. Kohl admits maintaining from 1993 to 1998 a tragedy -- not only for this 69-year-old gentleman and his Christian Democratic Party, but for Germany and the West.

Berlin. -- As Germany suffers a series of crises and its leadership wallows in inaction, many people are wondering what happened to the country's chancellor, Helmut Kohl.Wasn't he the man who led East and West Germany to unification, who stood in front of the flood-lit German parliament building on Oct. 3 1990 and proudly watched as the German flag was hoisted? Wasn't he touted as the personification of united Germany -- big, strong and successful? What has gone wrong?The simple answer is that nothing is the matter with Mr. Kohl, only that our perception of him is correcting itself now that the period of unification is over.

BERLIN -- Culinary quiz time: The prime minister of Great Britain is dropping by the German chancellor's house for dinner and you're in charge of the menu. What do you serve for the entree?If you answered, "Pig's stomach stuffed with pork and potatoes, boiled for three hours and pan-fried in larded butter," then advance directly to the power kitchens of Bonn. And if there are leftovers, remember that the chancellor likes them re-fried the next day.Yes, this was indeed the dish served last summer to Prime Minister John Major at the table of Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

The General Assembly cut future taxes and left the problem of program cuts or revenue substitutions to future General Assemblies.Web Hubbell dined too well to be a ghost, but rattles the chains of the Clinton administration nonetheless.Psst. Netanyahu made a conciliatory gesture to Hamas by dropping the extradition request for Abu Marzook. Shsh.Cheer up. Helmut Kohl will run again.Pub Date: 4/07/97

HELMUT Kohl was one of the great statesmen of the second half of the 20th century. He unified Germany when others thought it impossible or undesirable. He was the chief architect of European monetary and economic union. His stage-German bumpkin manner hides a fine mind. His preoccupation with nuts-and-bolts politics covered a far-sighted vision that was clearer and more purposeful than his adversaries'. That makes the Bonn prosecutors' decision to investigate the $1 million political slush fund that Mr. Kohl admits maintaining from 1993 to 1998 a tragedy -- not only for this 69-year-old gentleman and his Christian Democratic Party, but for Germany and the West.

HELMUT KOHL is to Konrad Adenauer what Cal Ripken is to Lou Gehrig. Yesterday, the German chancellor surpassed Adenauer's old record of 5,145 days (or 14 years and one month) in office to become the longest serving head of the German government in the postwar era.Purists will be unimpressed. They will note that Otto von Bismarck, the "Iron Chancellor," served more than 19 years from 1871 to 1890. And while Baltimore's Cal made history when he swept by the Gehrig record of 2,130 consecutive games played, this is not all. He started his Oriole career in 1981 -- fully a year before Mr. Kohl ascended to the chancellorship.

Fear not for German Chancellor Helmut Kohl even though his majority in the Bundestag has dwindled from 134 votes to only ten after last Sunday's election. Although his opponents have been quick to predict the demise of his weakened coalition, Mr. Kohl insists he can govern and is no doubt determined to become the longest-serving chancellor of the century by holding office four more years.How to explain Mr. Kohl's confidence? For one thing, he is the survivor nonpareil of German politics, the fellow his rivals have constantly underestimated to their later chagrin.

Germany's new chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder (54), came to Washington last week on the heels of an election victory that is the most decisive in the past 25 years. By voting out Helmut Kohl (68), Germans ended a political leadership stamped by World War II, Germany's recovery, the worst days of the Cold War, and by a deference to the United States that often verged on subservience. They are replacing it with a self-confident, assertive new generation of leaders, marked, like Mr. Clinton, by the 1960s rather than the immediate postwar period.

HELMUT KOHL's dream of breaking Otto von Bismarck's record as the longest-serving German chancellor may remain a dream, unless he can beat Gerhard Schroeder in September."

The General Assembly cut future taxes and left the problem of program cuts or revenue substitutions to future General Assemblies.Web Hubbell dined too well to be a ghost, but rattles the chains of the Clinton administration nonetheless.Psst. Netanyahu made a conciliatory gesture to Hamas by dropping the extradition request for Abu Marzook. Shsh.Cheer up. Helmut Kohl will run again.Pub Date: 4/07/97

HELMUT KOHL is to Konrad Adenauer what Cal Ripken is to Lou Gehrig. Yesterday, the German chancellor surpassed Adenauer's old record of 5,145 days (or 14 years and one month) in office to become the longest serving head of the German government in the postwar era.Purists will be unimpressed. They will note that Otto von Bismarck, the "Iron Chancellor," served more than 19 years from 1871 to 1890. And while Baltimore's Cal made history when he swept by the Gehrig record of 2,130 consecutive games played, this is not all. He started his Oriole career in 1981 -- fully a year before Mr. Kohl ascended to the chancellorship.

BERLIN -- Culinary quiz time: The prime minister of Great Britain is dropping by the German chancellor's house for dinner and you're in charge of the menu. What do you serve for the entree?If you answered, "Pig's stomach stuffed with pork and potatoes, boiled for three hours and pan-fried in larded butter," then advance directly to the power kitchens of Bonn. And if there are leftovers, remember that the chancellor likes them re-fried the next day.Yes, this was indeed the dish served last summer to Prime Minister John Major at the table of Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Fear not for German Chancellor Helmut Kohl even though his majority in the Bundestag has dwindled from 134 votes to only ten after last Sunday's election. Although his opponents have been quick to predict the demise of his weakened coalition, Mr. Kohl insists he can govern and is no doubt determined to become the longest-serving chancellor of the century by holding office four more years.How to explain Mr. Kohl's confidence? For one thing, he is the survivor nonpareil of German politics, the fellow his rivals have constantly underestimated to their later chagrin.

BERLIN -- Chancellor Helmut Kohl's party suffered a double defeat yesterday, when it lost a state government election and control of the upper house of parliament.The loss was also a personal blow for Mr. Kohl because it came in his home state, Rhineland-Palatinate (or Rhineland-Pfalz), which had been governed by his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for more than 40 years.In the face of rising national problems, the CDU garnered only 39 percent of the vote, a drop of more than 5 percentage points from the last election results in 1986.

GERMANY IS FACING the worst political scandal in its postwar history. Leaders of the party which governed the country until just fifteen months ago, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), have admitted to illegally concealing contributions from secret donors. Auditors have been unable to trace about twelve million marks in such donations received since 1989. Initiator of this party financing scandal is none other than one of Germany's political heroes, former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. State prosecutors early this month opened an investigation after Mr. Kohl confessed publicly that he broke the law by keeping up to two million marks in clandestine donations.

Washington.-- "I have always found the word 'Europe' in the mouths of those politicians who wanted from other powers something they did not dare to demand in their own name,'' Otto von Bismarck observed with a clarity that can easily be mistaken for cynicism.What does Helmut Kohl not dare to demand in Germany's own name when he advocates a European Union almost as large as the continent in which Germany remains the largest state? As Chancellor Kohl explained to the French daily Figaro, recently: ''The Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary will necessarily become members of the European Union one day or the next.

BRUSSELS -- President Clinton, writing a new chapter in "How to Win Friends and Influence People," yesterday spotted Helmut Kohl -- the one European leader he actually considers a friend -- and promptly needled the hefty German chancellor about his weight."