BERLIN: Germany’s longest serving post-war leader Helmut Kohl, the father of national reunification and an architect of European integration, died Friday at the age of 87. German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a moving tribute to her mentor, declaring that “Kohl changed my life decisively”. Kohl persuaded Bush to accept a larger, reunified Germany, and convinced Gorbachev to withdraw troops from East Germany. Mentor to Merkel, Kohl was later ousted by his protege, who urged their party to drop the self-declared “old warhorse” when he became embroiled in a campaign finance scandal in 1999. Kohl married Maike Richter, an economy ministry aide 35 years his junior, after his fall, and seven years after Hannelore died.

Source: Manila Times June 17, 2017 03:11 UTC