Helmut Kohl

The legend of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) passed away in his sleep.
Schuble, who was part of the Bundestag for more than 50 years, is survived by his wife, four children and four grandchildren.
He was born in Freiburg in 1942, where he studied, and then he studied at the University of Hamburg.

Something's changed in the tough world of politics, and not just in Greece. Up until approximately a decade ago, few if any European politicians who had risen high through the ranks ever believed they might need to get a regular job someday. Politics was a closed system that ensured a degree of protection and relative permanence.

With a hit by the "godmother of punk" Nina Hagen, Germany's military saluted a visibly moved Angela Merkel during a ceremonial farewell on Dec. 2, just a week before she is due to bow out of politics after 16 years in office.

Two popular fallacies are thriving in a Europe of populism and diminished expectations. Many argue that Europe's problem is a problem of leadership. Missing are statesmen with the stature of Helmut Kohl, Francois Mitterrand or Jacques Delors. Historical distance tends to elevate and idealize leaders of the past.

Munich, June 2 - AGERPRES special correspondent Catalina Matei reports: Romanians believe deeply in the European project, in its capacity to ensure democracy and the prosperity of European citizens, said, on Saturday, in Munich, President Klaus Iohannis.

Angela Merkel will be formally elected chancellor of Germany by parliament on Wednesday, the fourth time she will lead the government since 2005. If she sees out a full term, Ms Merkel will have spent 16 years in office, equalling the record set by Helmut Kohl between 1982 and 1998.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives secured a fourth consecutive term in office on Sept. 24 in an election that brought a far-right party into the German parliament for the first time in more than half a century, exit polls indicated.
   

Germans voted on Sept. 24 in a general election expected to hand Chancellor Angela Merkel a fourth term, with Turkey hoping that the recent crisis between the two NATO allies will ease with the new government.

Former German Chancellor and statesman Helmut Kohl, the longest-serving postwar Western leader, died at the age of 87 on June 16.

The Greek Foreign Ministry on Friday paid respects to Helmut Kohl, the former German chancellor who died aged 87.

The ministry described Kohl as a leader "with a sense of historic responsibility who brought to fruition the historic undertaking of peacefully reunifying Germany."